This book is great for reading as you are driving out West. There are so many stories that saturate our folk history of the Old West, it is hard to know what is true and what is legend. This book systematically takes a look at what is true and what is bogus, and what is grey in the areas of many old legends from the Old West.

My Dad made our family stop at every historical marker in the entire West, well at least that is what it felt like, but in doing this he instilled in me an interest in the West and how it was won, etc. This book gave me a fun, entertaining look at what is true and what is not true, I would recommend it for enjoyable reading.

What makes _Legends & Lies_ so attractive is that, as the book's foreword points out, it avoids the two traditional pitfalls of Western historical writing. Typically what we get is either fanciful types whose mantra is 'I don't care if it's true or not, that's the way I want it to have been' or cold-hearted sorts who assume that if it's being repeated as a legend, it could not possibly be true. It's hard to find authors who truly love the West and respect both legend and fact, with no desire to tear down either, and Walker is that rare type.

I like the breadth of the sources he considers. He blindly accepts no one, always putting effort into evaluating the source's credibility. The stories in the book (Sacajawea, Billy the Kid, and Custer to name a few) are ones known to anyone with a nodding acquaintance with Western history; in some cases I hadn't even realized there was a question as to what happened. He doesn't pander to political correctness, but he does recognize that it took two genders and a lot of colours to make the history of the West, and writes accordingly.

Highly recommended (by a lifetime Westerner, if it matters) to anyone interested in Western history.

This is an absolutely fascinating book. Walker brings massive research to his task, which is to look at all facets of some unsolved mysteries. For instance, did Davy Crockett survive the fight at the Alamo, at least for a brief while? Was Meriwether Lewis's death murder or suicide? And whatever became of Ambrose Bierce, the author who ventured into revolutionary Mexico and never returned?

Walker gathers evidence from surprising sources, some of them overlooked by historians, and leaves it to his readers to draw conclusions.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the American West.

Remains top of list great author.

This book spans the American Civil War. It is grusome, compelling and thought provoking.

The story covers the private lives entwined with the beuracracy of war and politics. Whilst a long book it will keep you reading to the end.

Love and War is an excellent book. It picks up where North and South left off. From the moments before the Civil War to the days after the South's surrender this book takes a close look at the Mains and Hazards and their trials throughout the four years.

This book, while rather long, is fantastic. It definitely is thought provoking. Mr. Jakes writes from the male standpoint and also the female standpoint. I also thought he conveyed the thoughts and dreams of the slaves in a realistic way. There were characters I loved, such as Billy and Brett and ones I hated, like Ashton and James Huntoon. The ever-evil Bent pops up in the story from time to time wreaking havoc everywhere he goes.

While Gone with the Wind (one of my all time favorite books) is a great book in itself it romanticizes the Civil War. Love and War in absolutely no way romaticizes the events of the war. This is a very realistic book with very believeable characters. One can almost believe these two families did exist.

Any fan of North and South will enjoy Love and War. It is a rather long story but well worth the time reading it.

Matthew Kent, son of Jephtha Kent, is in Paris, happily pursuing the life of one of the new "bohemian" artists and befriending many of the new and promising artists of the time-Cezanne, Manet etc. and rather daringly having a live-in mistress.He becomes involved with a sadistic and violent agent of Bismarck (chancellor of Germany)and is forced to flee the country. Dolly, his mistress, becomes pregnant and insists that they marry to avoid the stigma of bastardy for their child.Their marriage doesn't survive so Dolly takes their son Thomas with her to India where she is employed as an English teacher.Matt returns to America briefly but decides that his future lies in Europe. Gideon makes an implacable enemy of millionaire businessman, Thomas Courtleigh who does all he can to destroy Gideon and his business by attacking his family, causing the death of his wife Margaret. On the same night, Gideon's daughter Eleanor is pack raped , causing irreparable damage to her self esteem. Eleanor leaves home at an early age, joining an acting troupe,and therebye relinquishing respectability as it was known in that era.After Margarets death Gideon is able to marry his longtime mistress, Julia Kent, widow of his cousin Louis and takes on the responsibility of her son Carter.

One of the more successful Kent books. The sons of Jephtha Kent -- who is conveniently (and oh too quickly) killed off -- reap what they have sown. The lawless Kent of the title is Jeremiah, the gunslinger-gambler. Jakes cleverly manipulates other members of his cast to come in contact with Jeremiah without knowing who he is; first Julia on her suffragist tour of the Wild West, and then brother Gideon, with tragic results. The travails of Matthew Kent allow Jakes to explore nineteenth-century Paris, but the author is more successful detailing the great Chicago Fire of 1871 and early union uprisings than the Parisian bohemian art world. Gideon Kent's story takes up the bulk of the book: his wife's madness (which I have trouble buying, even though her father was a drunk and alcoholism is supposed to be hereditary), his affair with Julia, his estrangement from his children, his pro-union sympathies, and his conflict with the railroad giant Courtleigh. Gideon's descent into conservatism is less abrupt than Philip Kent's in The Seekers, and therefore more realistic, but equally annoying. The abrupt about-face by Dolly when she decides to leave Matthew seems out of character: I feel like Jakes is setting up her son Thomas to take part in raj activities in India for a future book never written. Eleanor the budding actress is also a believable character, but her last-minute reconciliation with Gideon is even less convincing. The Lawless has less in the way of canvas and sprawl than The Warriors (for instance), and Jakes seems to be truly interested in character development over episode, perhaps for the first time in the series. Unfortunately, none of the characters is as compelling as Amanda Kent in The Furies --and Jakes chooses to relegate the women to a secondary position.

maybe my favoite of the 8, it is hard to decide, they are all great and together an awesome read....

CALIFORNIA GOLD is the story of Macklin Chance, who like many others of his day, journeys to the land of California with the hopes of finding a new life and fortune. It is the start of the gold rush, and Macklin, along with thousands of others, help build the state of California in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Macklin starts from the bottom and works his way to the top,and along the way he encounters the men that helped build California: Leland Stanford, Randolph Hearst, to name a few.

As in all John Jakes novels, CALIFORNIA GOLD is filled with a lot of history and a lot of great characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I do not feel it's Jake's best. I felt the ending was a little disappointing - can't explain it but it felt wrong to me - but otherwise this was one of those books that I couldn't put down. A must-read for all John Jakes fans!

In California Gold, John Jakes has once again created a very engrossing story wrapped in lots of interesting history about California. As usual, his plot moves along at a brisk pace and he introduces many interesting characters -- both fictional and real-life. The main character, James Macklin Chance, is one of Jakes' more memorable ones. I'm sure you'll enjoy how he comes to California as a young man, poor financially but rich in ambition, and his adventures in building one fortune on top of another. If you enjoy historical fiction, and especially if you're a John Jakes fan, do yourself a favor and get a copy of California Gold. You'll be richer for the reading experience.

This was certainly a book that you could enjoy. This book also gave you a good picture of the history of California. This book chronicles the rise from poverty to massive riches for a young man from Pennylsvania. He first grows immensely wealthy by taking part in the oil industry of California. From making big money in petroleum he moves into the citrus industry. He is able to continue making money in the citrus business. His next step is in water rights. This novel also tells of some of his lady loves that he becomes familiar with. Also interesting is some of the potent enemies that he gets in the state of California. This is a good depiction of wealth and power gained in the Golden State. If you read this book you will read a good story as well as get a good history of the state of California. It is also very unique the way that John Jakes uses some historical figures from these days in this story. Read this book,you will not be dissapointed.

The line of the Kent famiy is followed through with Amanda Kent as the main player. Amanda, daughter of Gilbert Kent was kidnapped and held as a wife by an Indian brave until his death when she was released.She then married a fur trapper who also died,leaving her to m ake her living as a bar keeper until she was caught up in the Battle of the Alamo and again taken prisoner as the woman of a Mexican Officer.She was treated well by him and gave birth to his son,Louis. By chance, she met,very briefly, with her cousin Jared who had been searching for her for years and inherited, on behalf of his son Jephtha,the control of his share of a gold mine. Determined to restore the printing firm of Kent and Sons in Boston to the family control, she and Louis set up house in Boston where she battles for ownership of the firm from the evil Hamilton Stovall,the man who swindled her family of their fortune and business.

Arguably the best of the Kent Family Chronicles, having as its heroine the strong-willed Amanda Kent, whose personality and strength of character reverberate off every page. How she makes it from the Alamo to the California gold rush to the throes of abolitionist New York strains belief, but ultimately the wild ride is worth the trip. Compelling characters help the journey: Bart McGill, Isaiah Hope, Jephtha Kent, Michael Boyle, Luiz Cordoba. And there is the usual liberal sprinkling of historical figures like Santa Ana. Not necessarily a page-turner, but a strong depiction of key events in American history, very indicative of the hardship and conflicts of the time. Better than "The Bastard."

just keep reading, they keep getting better....

In many ways, this is the least effective Kent book. Gideon Kent dominates the other characters, and his determination to see that his family and the Kent name continue into the future is his dominant motivation. He dies in the book's final pages on the cusp of the twentieth century, his dreams fulfilled. Unfortunately, his unpleasantness as a character--building from the previous Kent book The Lawless--is a serious drawback. Why is it when the Kent men grow up (Philip, Louis), they become such unpleasantly conservative louts? The Americans reads to me like the work of a middle-aged man; only someone of middle-age could create without any sense of irony a character who does his best to dominate his family and stifle their plans and ideas to his own end, forgetting his own youth and energy in the process.

The fact that the book ends in 1900 also contributes to its comparative failure. Quite plainly, there is more story to tell, and Jakes' failure in his original plan to bring the Kent family up to 1976 is obvious. The three main surviving Kents--Eleanor, Will, and Carter--are each at crucial points in their lives when the story ends, and leaving them where they are with no sequel is not quite fair. Plainly, Jakes has things set up nicely for his characters to participate in the disaster of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 as well as the independence of India. Of the historical events and characters reproduced here, I found myself absolutely bored by Will's adventures in the Dakotas with Theodore Roosevelt. In contrast, the depiction of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 is probably the best of all the historical events recreated in the entire Kent series.

Book 8 in The Kent Family Chronicles neatly wraps up the family history in a most satisfying way.Carter Kent, son of Julia and Louis, shows some of the weakness of character of his father and becomes embroiled with shady, criminal types, forcing him to head for San Francisco where he becomes an off-sider to a powerful political boss. Will Kent follows his dream of becoming a doctor and after an initial inclination to concentrate on becoming rich and famous by marrying the promiscuous daughter of a society family, realises his true potential and joins a practice in the N.Y. slums. Eleanor Kent, married to Leo, a Jewish actor, experiences for herself the prejudice against Jews directed against her for daring to marry a Jew. They are caught in the terrible Johnstown flood and the pattern of their lives is altered forever.
I'm sorry that this wonderful series has ended but am grateful for the very real insight into American history.

My father gave me all 8 books for Christmas in 1980. In 2002 I finally got around to reading them! All in all I loved them, but I think some of the praise in these reviews is way over the top. One big complaint I have is that each chapter title gives away what is coming, like the snippets of coming scenes in a mini-series before the commercial. I found it rather insulting. But my biggest complaint is that John Jakes is so blatantly homophobic that it would be laughable if there weren't still people in the world who will take what he says at face value. Countless times in the series there are male characters that exhibit some form of creativity (Matt comes to mind with his painting), and instantly the parents are fearful that their child will grow up to be gay. I found these passages to be extremely offensive. But other than that, they are fun to read. Certainly not great literature, more like a soap opera.

Book 2 0f The Kent Family Chronicles is The Rebels.Philip Kent is now a serving soldier in George Washingtons rebel army,enduring cold,starvation and all the privations of war. He recieves a letter from his wife,Anne whom he has left in Boston with their infant son,Abraham,who tells him of her worries about the unwanted attention of a sea captain who is connected to the shipping firm with whom they have invested their savings.A new character is introduced,Judson Fletcher, a dissolute drunkard and family black sheep who is a warped soul because of his love for another mans wife and the dislike of his father. The War of Independence is in its main stages in this book with the names of many well known soldiers and characters of historical importance being included--it's a wonderfully easy way to learn history within the context of a family saga.

John Jakes has become my favorite guilty pleasure. His books read fast and have plenty of action and melodrama (kind of like he wrote them with a miniseries in mind...hmm...). They're just trashy enough that you feel like you're having fun, and just historical enough that you feel like you're learning something. I loved the North and South miniseries, and I loved the Crown family books. I wasn't sure I would be as intrigued by the revolutionary period, but I'm falling in love with the characters - I had to run out to the bookstore and get "The Seekers" right after I finished "The Rebels!"

I love this entire series, and The Rebels is where the twists and turns of family fortune shift into high gear (drama?).

While the novel makes a point to keep up with most of the characters we've come to know, Stanley, Virgilla, George & Constance, Cooper and Judith, and Ashton, the novel focuses mainly on Charles and his new life out West.

The post-war transition of Charles's character by Jakes was done masterfully. The transition of Cooper Main was a little unbelievable given his past.

The long conclusion nicely wrapped up the entire series. Definitely not the best book of the series, but a great story of life after the Civil War.

If you enjoy books that cover the Civil War era, don't miss this exciting Triology. It follows the lives of two families from two different parts of the country. Follow the hardships, heartbreaks, love, and joy of the Mains from South Carolina and the Hazzards from Pennsylvania.
It is a tail of true friends and what tries to tear them apart. It will make you laugh and cry. It gives a clear view of what some of our ancestors probably faced during the war that devided our great nation.

Heaven and Hell, the last book in the North and South trilogy was absolutely wonderful. This book is mainly about Charles and his life in the West. And also his trying to find a place in the world after the war. Madeline is also a major character in this book with her journal entries to Orry. And the evil Bent has to make his appearance throughout. (I could have done without Bent!!) The lives of Stanley, Virgilia, Billie, Brett, and the love-to-hate-her Aston aren't covered as much in this book. I would have loved to learn more about Billie and Brett. Also would have liked to read more about Marie-Louise and her Yankee husband Theo. I found the parts of the book about them to be very touching.

If you've already read the other two books you must read this one to find out what happens. You will be in for quite a few surprises. This book is definitely worth reading. A classic!!!