Jackson [Paperback]

Max Byrd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 1998

He became a legend at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Before that he was a fiercely passionate senator who could barely finish a speech without becoming choked with rage. He was called coarse and illiterate. A slave owner, land speculator, and Indian fighter, he stole another man's wife, murdered men in duels, and ordered military executions. But Andrew Jackson--or Old Hickory as his soldiers dubbed him--was an impassioned supporter of universal suffrage, an ardent believer in the will of the people, and the seventh president of the United States.



In Jackson, Max Byrd has recreated the life and times of this powerful, controversial, and contradictory man told from a variety of viewpoints, including an unfinished and uncomplimentary biography of the General, a remembrance by his closest personal aide and confidant, and the research of a young writer named David Chase. Chase knows very well that his biography could ruin Jackson's chances in the upcoming presidential election. Still, he is determined to write the first unbiased account of the General's life. Was Jackson really a charismatic demagogue, a crude backwoods barbarian, a representative of the decline of American democracy? Or was there something more behind the public image of war hero, campaign buttons, and emotionally-charged rhetoric? What is revealed is a man even more contradictory than the rumors told about him. Here is a Jackson both savagely honest and politically cunning, a self-made man who always longed to belong, an orphaned boy who grew up with an untamed fury for respect and honor, a man as tough as the Tennessee wilderness from which he came.



With sharply drawn vignettes of such notable figures as John Quincy Adams, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Houston, and others, Jackson is an unforgettable portrait of an America in transition and a man as dangerous as democracy itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adultery, murder, conspiracy and land fraud are the scandals laid at the feet of Andrew Jackson in 1828 as he runs for president against John Quincy Adams. Byrd's second historical novel (after Jefferson) presents the adult life of Old Hickory as seen through the astute eyes of a young and hungry writer, David Chase, who is commissioned by an anti-Jackson partisan to write a book that will expose the candidate's stained personal, professional and political life. Eventually, a clear picture emerges of the man who would become the seventh president: coarse, hot-tempered, politically radical, a brawler, a war hero, a devoted husband and a very sharp politician. Slogging through the muck of political skullduggery and the barnyard intrigues of early Washington, D.C., Chase learns the truth of Jackson's rumored adultery, his famous and bloody duels and his involvement with Aaron Burr's wild plot to establish an empire. Finally, Chase falls under the spell of this charismatic man, and so is faced with any journalist's greatest dilemma. Young America comes alive here through a cast of famous players including Jackson, his confidant John Coffee, Burr, Henry Clay, Sam Houston, John C. Calhoun and others. Deftly balancing fact and fiction, Byrd invests his tale with color, emotion and grand historical drama.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

This work is a well-written biography within a fairly well-written novel. The novel segment opens in 1828 as Andrew Jackson is making his second run for the presidency. David Chase has been commissioned by a William Short to write a "true" biography of Old Hickory. Many biographies have been written of Andy Jackson, and all are flattering. This is not what the John Q. Adams people want, however. Chase is supposed to tell about all the men Jackson has murdered in duels and how he stole his wife, Rachel, away from her husband and lived in sin with her for two and a half years. Chase was to report on Jackson's rages, how others ridiculed his bad grammar and spelling, and how his minions rewrite all his speeches, letters, and memos. But as Chase researches and writes about Jackson, a flawed hero emerges. It comes down to whether the aristocracy of New England and Virginia will continue to rule the new country or yield to a man of the common folk. This book is for everyone, whether student of history or not, for its wonderful insights into the people and times of our infant republic.?Dawn Anderson, North Richland Hills P.L., Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (February 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553379356
• ISBN-13: 978-0553379358
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,978,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byrd's careful research produces stunning novels, September 1, 2000

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackson (Paperback)

There are two stories running side-by-side, like horses in harness, in "Jackson," the fascinating novel about Old Hickory's 1828 campaign for the presidency by "Jefferson" novelist Max Byrd.

The story that will draw readers into the book concerns David Chase, a young writer hired by an enemy of Andrew Jackson to research and write a scurrilous biography of him that will derail his presidential bid. Fortunately for Chase, there is plenty of scandal to be found. Jackson lived a life on the frontier, where duels were as common as breathing, and where those with a lick of sense and an ounce of ambition -- and Jackson had more than enough of both -- were not above using any means to get ahead.

But it's Rachel, Jackson wife of 38 years, who had the potential of providing the juiciest bits of gossip. Although we first meet her as a pious, elderly woman, content to smoke her corncob pipe on the veranda of their home, the Hermitage, she was considered a vivacious beauty in her youth, when Andrew eloped with her to escape an abusive marriage. They were married, and lived together for two years before discovering that her first husband neglected to file divorce papers. Bigamy, no matter how accidental nor how long ago, was still a powerful charge in 1828.

Worse, rumors are about that Rachel that she was involved with another man while still married to her first husband. If Chase can find proof, he could set alight the charge that would dynamite Jackson's campaign.

The second, more subtle, story has to do with America of the 1820s, making its way from being a stepchild of Great Britain to something reflecting its native character, an uneasy mix of sectional rivalries and class distinctions that can still be seen today. Chase observes this growing-up process with the eye of a Parisian, where he lived for many years and desperately wants to return. He is at times horrified by this country under construction, its rough ways and abusive life. Byrd expertly recreates this America in vivid prose mingled with deeply dug-up facts about everyday life in this newly minted country. We are rewarded, for example, with a glimpse of John Quincy Adams, the president and Jackson's rival, uneasily presiding at a White House reception, open to all, and jammed with politicians, diplomats and what passed for tourists in those days, all on the make. He fared better than Jackson, whose inaugural parade degenerated into an all-out assault and looting of the White House by the "common people" who voted him in.

Chase also experiences this shaping of America personally in a love affair with Emma Colder, a woman who finds the invisible ties that bind her sex loosened in her new land.

As a historical novel, "Jackson" doesn't rip through its time like freight train. Popular novelists like John Jakes would have juiced up the love story, made the hero handsomer and put in a few fist fights and gun battles (although Byrd's recounting of the Battle of New Orleans provides enough gore on that score). Byrd paces his story more leisurely, the way life was lived back then. He convincingly revives an era when optimism about America's future was mingled with pessimism over its past, when technology was embraced like a religion, and when social inequalities were blatant and considered justified. It makes one anxiously await his next book, just published, about Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Max Byrd's "Jackson" is 1997's finest historical novel., December 28, 1998

By 

Lowe Bibby ([e-mail]) (Kailua, Hawaii (island of Oahu)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackson (Paperback)

Forget Gore Vidal, Max Byrd's "Jackson" surpasses any of Vidal's historical novels. In fact, Byrd may be the finest author of historical novels now working in the United States.

"Jackson" is beautifully crafted, with a plot that siezes readers and fascinates them until the book is finished. Andrew Jackson is a man who has always deserved to be better known by us all. Byrd brings him to life with consumate skill.

More importantly, he inserts readers into Jackson's time and offers an entire panorama of our burgeoning nation in 1828. Only four of the characters are invented, and the real people who surrounded Jackson speak, act, and react as they did when they were alive.

This is a wonderful book, with characters who are works of art. It should be read by anyone with the slightest taste for history, true drama, or simply the finest writing on today's horizon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Postulates the Under Currents Used to Elect Jackson, October 30, 2001

By 

Howard L. Dixon (Hopewell, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackson (Paperback)

As with several of his books, Max Byrd uses the interesting technique of using the writing of fictional characters to tell true stories of heroes of the past. This book is set in 1827-1828 as Andrew Jackson is running for President against John Quincy Adams. David Chase in this book serves a similar role as Nicolas Trist in the book "Grant" where a writer returns from abroad and is given the job of writing about the central character. In this book Chase's employer is hoping for a hatchet job on Andrew to prevent the "uncultured" forces of the West from gaining access to the White House. Similar to "Grant" there's also a smattering of romance among the fictional characters to keep the story spicey. Byrd is a well-educated man and it is easily reflected in his work. One doesn't have to know Latin but there is more than one example where it would help..."Veni, vidi, vici." What's most enjoyable is how Byrd weaves tid-bits of facts into his historical profiles. I had never thought about how the cast-iron frame had extended the life of pianos because a complete wooden frame would be destroyed by the masters in short order. One of the central themes involves rumors and truths about Jackson's wife, Rachael. Will her early indiscretions be enough to sink Jackson's bid for the White House? Byrd does a nice job of addressing this with known facts, interspersed with supposition. Finally, there's a great deal in this book about a man whom history has mostly forgotten...General Coffee. Coffee was with Jackson throughout many years of his adult life, serving with him at New Orleans and back into civilian life through Jackson's presidency. If you're interested in those that shaped this Union during the early 1800s you'll enjoy this book.