Book
Heaven and Hell
First published 1987
The Civil War has ended, but neither family can return to its former life. The Mains face occupation, ruined property and political violence in the defeated South, while the Hazards confront industrial conflict and the limits of northern victory. Reconstruction creates new rights and opportunities alongside organised resistance and bitter struggles over land and authority.
Charles Main attempts to rebuild his life in the Plains cavalry, where United States expansion brings him into campaigns against Native peoples and exposes the continuation of national violence beyond Appomattox. The trilogy closes by asking whether the families can preserve friendship without denying slavery, defeat and the new conflicts created by western conquest.
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