The Kent Family Chronicles (also known as The American Bicentennial Series) is a series of eight novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s by John Jakes

John Jakes

John William Jakes is an American writer, best known for American historical fiction.-Early life and education:...

 written to commemorate the 200th anniversary

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...

 of the Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...

 of the United States of America. The books became best seller

Bestseller

A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...

s, with no novel in the series selling fewer than 3.5 million copies. With The Rebels, The Seekers and The Furies, Jakes became the first author to have three books on the New York Times bestseller list in a single year (1975).

The books describe different members of the Kent family and their connection with historical events around the time of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. The first novel begins just before the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, with Frenchman

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Phillipe Charboneau, who travels to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and later to the New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

, changing his name to Philip Kent along the way and meeting several key figures of the Revolution, including the Marquis de La Fayette

Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette

Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette , often known as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France...

, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...

, Paul Revere

Paul Revere

Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...

, Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren

Dr. Joseph Warren was an American doctor who played a leading role in American Patriot organizations in Boston in early days of the American Revolution, eventually serving as president of the revolutionary Massachusetts Provincial Congress...

, and others. The saga ends some generations later, in 1890 with the death of Gideon Kent in The Americans. (It was originally intended to continue until 1976, covering 200 years.) The first two novels in the series were made into telefilms in 1978 and 1979, both starring Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens is an American executive, film producer, director and former actor.-Early life:Andrew Stevens was born Herman Andrew Stephens in Memphis, Tennessee...

 as Philip Kent, with the third becoming a 1979 telefilm starring Randolph Mantooth

Randolph Mantooth

Randolph Donald Mantooth is an American character actor of stage, film and television. Mantooth is best known for his work in the 1970s medical drama, Emergency!, as Johnny Gage, a Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic...

 as son Abraham Kent.

Novels

• The Bastard
  The Bastard (novel)
  The Bastard is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1974. It is book one in a series known as The Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
  
  (1974)
• The Rebels
  The Rebels (novel)
  The Rebels is a historical novel written by John Jakes, originally published in 1975, the second in a series known as The Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to narrate the story of the nascent United...
  
  (1975)
• The Seekers
  The Seekers (novel)
  The Seekers is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1975. It is book three in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
  
  (1975)
• The Furies
  The Furies (novel)
  The Furies is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1976. It is book four in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series...
  
  (1976)
• The Titans
  The Titans (novel)
  The Titans is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1976. It is book five in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to tell the story of the United...
  
  (1976)
• The Warriors (1977)
• The Lawless
  The Lawless (novel)
  The Lawless is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1978. It is book seven in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to tell the story of the United...
  
  (1978)
• The Americans
  The Americans (novel)
  The Americans is a historical novel written by John Jakes and originally published in 1979. It is book eight in a series known as the Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to tell the story of the United...
  
  (1979)

External links

• John Jakes Official Homepage
• The Bastard on IMDb
• The Rebels on IMDb
• The Seekers on IMDb