Book
North and South
by John Jakes
Book 1 in the The North and South Trilogy series.
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Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania meet at West Point and form a friendship that survives military training and service in the Mexican–American War. Their families represent different economic worlds: the Mains depend on an enslaved plantation system, while the Hazards own an expanding ironworks in the industrial North.
From 1842 to secession, marriages, business interests and political convictions bind the families together even as slavery and sectional conflict drive them apart. The novel treats friendship as a test rather than an escape from history, showing how private affection is compromised when one household’s security rests on bondage and the nation moves towards civil war.
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