Homeland

A powerful family whose tragedies and triumphs define a nation and an era: this is the hallmark of the novels that have established John Jakes as master of the historical saga. In Homeland, Jakes has created an enthralling new dynasty - the Crowns of Chicago - contending with the awesome forces of history. Homeland is a towering epic of the immigrant adventure in America that calls to mind the rich tradition of Dreiser, Steinbeck, and Dos Passos. It pulses with a vast gallery of characters Dickensian in their vitality and distinctiveness. Among the major and supporting cast are: Paul Crown, a Berlin street boy who immigrates to America, to be caught up by the wonders of the motion pictures, and by Julie Vanderhoff, endangered daughter of a Chicago-stockyards tycoon; Joseph Crown, Paul's German-born uncle, ex-Civil War soldier and iron-willed beer baron; Ilsa, Joseph's wife, torn between old ways and the "new women" of her era; Joe Junior, the Crowns' oldest son - rebellious, drawn to the socialist movement his father hates; Rose French, tough-minded daughter of a railway worker, who tries to claw her way into high society; Julie's Aunt Willis, a fiercely emancipated woman, always involved with a new lover; and raffish, profane Colonel Sid Shadow, a born tinkerer and promoter, who sees the true potential of the movies as a mass medium. Into the lives of these characters are woven the real stories of real people: labor leader Eugene Debs; ambitious Theodore Rooseve