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North and South is a trilogy of best-selling novels by John Jakes which take place before, during, and after the American Civil War. The saga tells the story of the enduring friendship between Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania, who become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point but later find themselves and their families on opposite sides of the war. The slave-owning Mains are rural gentleman planters while the big-city Hazards live by manufacturing and industry, their differences reflecting the real divisions between North and South which ultimately led to war.

The first novel, North and South, was published in 1982, and was followed by Love and War in 1984. The trilogy was completed with Heaven and Hell in 1987.

The novels were each adapted into television miniseries starring Patrick Swayze and James Read in 1985, 1986, and 1994.

Novels[]

North+South-1982

North and South (1982)[]

North and South introduces the cotton-growing Mains of South Carolina and the ironworking Hazards of Pennsylvania, whose respective scions Orry and George meet and become friends at West Point. Over the next two decades (1842–1861) the men fight in the Mexican–American War, suffer various family conflicts, and witness the increasing discord between the North and South regions of the United States.

North and South debuted at #12 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and reached #1 within four weeks oof publication. It was later ranked the #8 hardcover fiction bestseller of 1982 by Publishers Weekly.

Love+War-1984

Love and War (1984)[]

The saga continues in Love and War, which follows the Mains and Hazards for the duration of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Orry finally marries his star-crossed love Madeline, but he is later killed. Both families have their share of suffering before the war is over.

Love and War debuted at #5 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and rose as high as #2. It was later ranked the #4 hardcover fiction bestseller of 1984 by Publishers Weekly, and #7 by The New York Times.

Heaven+Hell-1987

Heaven and Hell (1987)[]

The trilogy concludes with Heaven and Hell, as the Mains and Hazards face more challenges and obstacles while weathering the post-war Reconstruction era. Set chiefly between 1865 and 1868, the novel follows Orry's cousin Charles Main, a veteran of the Confederate Army who fights in the subsequent wars with the Native Americans and must recover from the trauma of his violent life. The presumed-dead Bent murders George's wife Constance and targets the Mains and Hazards for complete destruction, while Orry's widow Madeline, previously revealed to be an octoroon, becomes a target of a new, fanatical, and dangerous group called the Ku Klux Klan.

One chapter of the book has the Main and Hazard families, finally at peace, gathering together at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. The final chapter flashes forward to 1883 when the sons of Charles Main (who by now had become a successful rancher in Texas) and Billy Hazard (who was now a successful land baron in California) enter West Point, just as their fathers did and just as George and Orry did in 1842.

Heaven and Hell debuted at #8 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and rose as high as #2. It was later ranked the #9 hardcover fiction bestseller of 1987 by Publishers Weekly.

Mini-series[]

North+South-Complete1-3

North and South was adapted into a six-part television miniseries for ABC, which premiered on November 3, 1985. Starring Patrick Swayze as Orry Main and James Read as George Hazard. Its sequel, an adaptation of Love and War called North and South: Book II for television, debuted on May 4, 1986. A final instalment, Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III, premiered on February 27, 1994, but it failed to match the success of its predecessors.

UK Airdates[]

  • North and South: December 8, 1986
  • North and South, Book II: December 13, 1987
  • Heaven and Hell - North and South, Book III: Unknown

The miniseries follow the general plot of the novels, although the focus is shifted from the friction between the North and South to the love story between Orry Main and Madeline Fabray LaMotte. Notable departures from the books are Swayze's Orry surviving through the end of Love and War (only to be murdered by Bent at the beginning of Heaven and Hell), Kirstie Alley's Virgilia Hazard not surviving, Elkanah Bent being a wiry Georgian instead of an obese Ohioan, and Cooper Main being omitted from the first two series.

Main Cast[]

  • Orry Main:Patrick Swayze
  • George Hazard: James Read
  • Madeline Fabray, Orry's love interest: Lesley-Anne Down
  • Constance Flynn, George's future wife: Wendy Kilbourne
  • Virgilia Hazard, George's outspoken abolitionist sister: Kirstie Alley
  • Brett Main, Orry's "good sister": Genie Francis
  • Ashton Main, Orry's selfish and wicked sister: Terri Garber
  • Elkanah Bent, George and Orry's nemesis: Philip Casnoff
  • Charles Main: Lewis Smith (series 1 & 2); Kyle Chandler (series 3)

Other Notable Cast Members[]

  • Billy Hazard, George's brother and Brett's husband: John Stockwell (series 1 only); Parker Stephenson
  • Madam Conti, bordello proprietor: Elizabeth Taylor (series 1 only)
  • Sadistic Justin LaMotte: David Carradine
  • Abraham Lincoln: Hal Holbrook (series 1 & 2)
  • Senator Charles Edwards, Bent's father: Gene Kelly
  • Colonel Patrick Flynn, M.D.: Robert Mitchum
  • Abolitionist John Brown: Johnny Cash (series 1 only)
  • Clarissa Main, Orry's mother: Jean Simmons
  • Tillet Main, Orry's father: Mitchell Ryan (series 1 only)
  • Stanley Hazard, George's older brother: Jonathan Frakes
  • Maude Hazard, George's mother: Inga Swenson
  • Abolitionist Frederick Douglass: Robert Guillaume (series 1 only)
  • Burdetta Halloran: Morgan Fairchild
  • Congressman Sam Greene: David Ogden Stiers (series 2 only)
  • Maum Sally, Madeline's devoted but doomed servant: Olivia Cole
  • Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's wife: Rachel Jakes, the trilogy's writer John Jakes' wife, uncredited ( one episode, series 1 only)
  • Jefferson Davis: Lloyd Bridges (series 2 only)
  • Ulysses S. Grant: Mark Moses (series 1); Anthony Zerbe (series 2); Rutherford Cravens (series 3)
  • Miles Colbert: James Stewart (series 2 only)
  • Captain Thomas Turner: Wayne Newton (series 2 only)
  • Robert E. Lee: William Schallert (series 2 only)
  • Rose Sinclair: Linda Evans (series 2 only)
  • Mrs. Neal: Olivia de Havilland (series 2 only)
  • "Louche actor" Sam Trump: Peter O'Toole (series 3 only)
  • Francis Cardozo: Billy Dee Williams (series 3 only)
  • Isabel Truscott Hazard: Wendy Fulton (series 1); Mary Crosby (series 2); Deborah Rush (series 3)
  • Semiramis :Erica Gimpel (series 2 only)
  • Cuffey: Forest Whitaker (series 2 only)
  • Garrison Grady: Georg Stanford Brown (series 1 only)
  • Lt. Rudy Bodford: Michael Dudikoff (series 2 only)
  • Prudence Chaffee: Mariette Hartley (series 3 only)
  • Adolphus: Rip Torn (series 3 only)
  • Cooper Main: Robert Wagner (series 3 only)
  • Judith Stafford Main: Cathy Lee Crosby (series 3 only)
  • Gettys LaMotte: Cliff De Young (series 3 only)
  • Hiram Berdan: Kurtwood Smith (series 2 only)
  • Major Anderson: James Rebhorn (series 1 only)

Marriages[]

Filming of the miniseries resulted in four marriages among the cast and crew.

  • Read and Kilbourne, who played opposite each other, married in 1988 and now have two children.
  • Frakes and Francis, who had previously played opposite each other on the failed NBC soap Bare Essence, also married in 1988.
  • Lesley-Anne Down married assistant cameraman Don E. FauntLeRoy in 1986. They met during filming of Book I when both were married to other people, and eventually obtained divorces.
  • Garber married screenwriter Chris Hager, whom she met in 1985 when he worked as a grip on the set of North and South: Book II. They had a daughter, Molly, in 1986, and later divorced.

Trailer: North and South[]

North_&_South_Book_1,_Part_1_Intro

North & South Book 1, Part 1 Intro

Trailer: North and South, Book II[]

North_&_South_2_-_Intro_1

North & South 2 - Intro 1

Opening Credits: Heaven & Hell - North and South, Book III[]

North_and_South_1994_Book_3_Trailer

North and South 1994 Book 3 Trailer

Soundtrack[]

A soundtrack CD published by Varèse Sarabande in 1985 contained tracks from the music scores of two Bill Conti films, North and South and The Right Stuff. It included seven tracks from North and South.

Listen to The Right Stuff/North and South on Deezer.

The Varèse Sarabande Soundtrack Club released the entire score to North and South (1985) in a four-CD box set in 2008. The tracks in this set are the original recordings used in the production of the series, with three discs devoted to Conti's score and a fourth to the source music from the series. The entire score to North and South: Book II (1986) was also released in 2008 and includes three CDs. In 2015, North and South: Highlights, a 76-minute disc featuring selections from the first miniseries score, was released.

Listen to North and South: Highlights on Deezer.

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