Love and War Episode 5

One of the great ones. A wonderful Civil War saga.
North and South is truly one of the great miniseries, and in fact in my opinion surpasses other great Civil War films such as "Gone With the Wind." Based on the John Jakes trilogy of novels, this miniseries spans the period from the 1840s and the Mexican War, through the aftermath of the American Civil War. It tells the story of two families, the Hazards of Pennsylvania, and the Mains of South Carolina. The Hazards are the owners of a great steel manufactory. The Mains are the powerful owners of a sprawling Southern rice plantation. George Hazard and Orry Main, the scions of their respective families, form a friendship while attending West Point that sees them through the Mexican War and which is tested as each takes his region's side in the Civil War.

The miniseries is reasonably faithful to the novels, and where it departs, the changes are generally benign. The story is also quite faithful to history, and both North and South are portrayed with respect, although the...

Vaguely similar to the novels, but a classic nonetheless...
In the age of unimaginative reality TV, boundless and unjustifiable mainstream cynicism and utter ignorance and/or lack of care for history, "North and South" stands as somewhat of an anachronism on the shelves of stores nationwide. How pleasant and encouraging, then, to see it rank as such a huge seller in its first week of release!! I have the (guilty) pleasure to admit I watched my Spanish-version of this series, taped off my TV back in 1986, about 10 or 15 times, although I haven't seen it in over decade. I do remember it as one of the two or three greatest mini-series ever (exceeded only by "Roots", in my opinion), and (at the time) the most expensive mini-series ever, at over $25 million, although that could hardly cover Al Pacino's salary for "Angels in America" nowadays.

I also read all three books a long time ago, and am currently in the process of reading them again, also more than a decade later. Given my familiarity with both the books and the filmed version, I...

The best miniseries ever
North and South, the miniseries based on the novels written by the greatest historical novelist of all time, John Jakes, deserves to be released on DVD. This first miniseries (of three) showcases the antebellum period of the United States in glorious detail, and provides the exact amount of tension that was present in our country that would eventually lead to the Civil War.
Led by an all star cast, Patrick Swayze and James Read are two friends who meet at West Point prior to the Mexican-American war, and the series chronicles their friendship between them and their familes during the next twenty years until the Confederates fire on Fort Sumter in 1861.
This is a DVD that must be released and seen by all, so that future students of history may be educated in the most turbulent period of our nation's history.

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