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	<author id="5768">
  <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
  <fans-count type="integer">12</fans-count>
  <followers-count type="integer">7</followers-count>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208964729p5/5768.jpg</image_url>
  <about><![CDATA[John Jakes is the acknowledged contemporary master of the family saga. He is the creator of the legendary eight-volume Kent Family Chronicles, the Main and Hazard families of The North and South Trilogy, and the Crowns of Chicago, German-Americans whose stories interweave the history of the twentieth century in Homeland and its sequel, American Dreams.  His 2002 novel, Charleston, returned him to the turbulent years of the Revolution and the Civil War, and became his sixteenth consecutive New York Times bestseller. 

Praised as &quot;the godfather of the historical novel,&quot; &quot;the people's author,&quot; and &quot;America's history teacher,&quot; Jakes mingles the lives of his fictional characters with those of historical personages, and involves them in the great events of U.S. and world. 

His devotion to a unique blend of strong storytelling and historical accuracy has won him a worldwide audience. More than 55 million copies of his Kent Chronicles are currently in print, along with nearly 10 million copies of The North and South Trilogy. Six of his major novels have been filmed as television mini-series. The first North and South production (ABC, David L. Wolper Productions, 12 hours) stands at 7th position among the 10 highest rated miniseries of all time. 

Born in Chicago in 1932, John Jakes began writing professionally during his freshman year at Northwestern University, where he was studying acting. He decided to trade the stage for the typewriter when, at age 18, he sold his first story for $25. &quot;That check changed the whole direction of my life,&quot; says Jakes. 

He enrolled in the creative writing program at DePauw University, graduated in 1953, and in 1954 earned an M.A. degree in American literature from Ohio State University. After completing school, Jakes spent his days writing copy for a large pharmaceutical corporation, then several advertising agencies, including Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, one of the world's largest. At night he wrote and published short stories--eventually 200 of them, along with some 60 books in genres such as mystery, western, and science fiction. 

In March of 1973, Jakes began work on The Bastard, first of the eight volumes of The Kent Family Chronicles. The series, depicting American history through the lives of a fictional family, became the publishing industry phenomenon of America's Bicentennial decade. All eight volumes were bestsellers. In 1975, with the publication of volumes II, III, and IV, Jakes became the first author ever to have three books on the New York Times bestseller list in a single year. New American Library has published new editions of the series; each volume, the author had written a new introduction.

North and South, the first book in Jakes's celebrated Civil War trilogy, was published in 1982, Love and War in 1984, and the concluding volume, Heaven and Hell, in 1987. All three were number one bestsellers, and were made into top-rated ABC Novels for Television miniseries.  

California Gold was published in 1989, and 1993 saw publication of Homeland, the first of a new cycle of novels about a fictional family in the twentieth century. Homeland was named by the New York Times as one of its &quot;notable books of 1993.&quot; The Crown family saga continues in American Dreams. 

John Jakes holds honorary doctorates from five universities, the most recent from Ohio State. In 1995 he received the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's Western Heritage Literary Award for his short story Manitow and Ironhand, now collected in the anthology of Jakes stories, The Bold Frontier.

Also in '95 he was recipient of a dual Celebrity and Citizen's Award from the White House Conference on Libraries and Information, for speaking and writing on behalf of America's public libraries. In 1996 he became the tenth living inductee of the South Carolina Academy of Authors, and in 1997 he received the Professional Achievement Award of the Ohio State University Alumni Association. In 1998 the South Carolina Humaniti]]></about>      <hometown>Chicago</hometown>  <born_at>03/31/1932</born_at>    
  
  
  <books>
        <book id="159178">
  <title><![CDATA[North and South (North and South Trilogy Series)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>1655</ratings_count>
  <published>1982</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="159177">
  <title><![CDATA[Love and War (North and South Trilogy)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>954</ratings_count>
  <published>1984</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="64279">
  <title><![CDATA[Heaven and Hell (North and South Trilogy Series Volume 3)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.83</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>841</ratings_count>
  <published>1987</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="71771">
  <title><![CDATA[The Bastard (Kent Family Chronicles, Vol. 1)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>788</ratings_count>
  <published>1974</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="460248">
  <title><![CDATA[The Rebels (Kent Family Chronicles, Volume 2)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>656</ratings_count>
  <published>1975</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="71772">
  <title><![CDATA[The Seekers (Kent Family Chronicles, Volume 3)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.93</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>553</ratings_count>
  <published>1975</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="71774">
  <title><![CDATA[The Furies (Kent Family Chronicles, Volume 4)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.95</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>529</ratings_count>
  <published>1976</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="100720">
  <title><![CDATA[The Titans (Kent Family Chronicles, Volume 5)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>492</ratings_count>
  <published>1976</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="506265">
  <title><![CDATA[The Lawless]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.01</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>382</ratings_count>
  <published>1978</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="509048">
  <title><![CDATA[The Americans]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[John Jakes]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768.John_Jakes]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.04</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>359</ratings_count>
  <published>1980</published>  
  
</book>
      </books>
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