John Jakes

From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of North and South, “the best historical novelist of our time” (Patricia Cornwell).
In the late nineteenth century, Newport, Rhode Island-with its giant marble mansions, lavish dinner parties, and vicious social climbing- is a summer playground of the very rich. Into this rarefied world comes infamous railroad mogul and robber baron Sam Driver. He wants his...

Charleston follows the lives, loves, and shifting fortunes of the Bells -- saints and evil-doers mingled in one unforgettable family -- from the American Revolution through the turbulent antebellum years to the Civil War and the savage defeat of the Confederacy. Delving into our country's history as only he can, Jakes paints a powerful portrait of the Charleston aristocracy who zealously guarded their privilege and position, harboring dark family...

One man's ambitious journey into the heart of California's gold country becomes a pursuit for limitless wealth in the face of devastating ruin At the height of California's Gold Rush, men left everything behind for the chance at striking it rich. Now, some thirty years after its peak, gold fever still entices adventurous Easterners like James Macklin Chance to the western frontier. A wanderer and a nobody, James is drawn to California by the dream...

A monumental American novel about one man's rise from life as a penniless immigrant to the head of a family empire In the tradition of great writers like Charles Dickens and John Steinbeck, John Jakes crafts a sweeping family drama. In late-nineteenth-century Chicago, the tragedies and triumphs of the Crowns illustrate the power of the American Dream. As immigrants to America, their turbulent story spans a decade marked by the vicious Pullman Strike,...

Continues the saga of two American families, the Mains of South Carolina and the Hazards of Pennsylvania, in the aftermath of the Civil War.

The end of the colonies' fight for independence begins a new and glorious battle to build the new nation. When Abraham Kent falls in love with his step-sister he sets in motion a fate that will drive a generation westward.

A historical epic chronicles the first years of the American Republic through the eyes of Philip Kent, the illegitimate son of a British aristocrat who joins the ragtag Continental Army as a soldier during the American Revolution.

Relates the experiences of the Texas woman who, along with her baby, survived the 1836 massacre at the Alamo.