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Captains and the Kings: A Novel Paperback – August 1, 2017

by Taylor Caldwell (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,315 ratings
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New York Times Bestseller: Sweeping from the 1850s through the early 1920s, this towering family saga examines the price of ambition and power.

Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh is twelve years old when he gets his first glimpse of the promised land of America through a dirty porthole in steerage on an Irish immigrant ship. His long voyage, dogged by tragedy, ends not in the great city of New York but in the bigoted, small town of Winfield, Pennsylvania, where his younger brother, Sean, and his infant sister, Regina, are sent to an orphanage. Joseph toils at whatever work will pay a living wage and plans for the day he can take his siblings away from St. Agnes’s Orphanage and make a home for them all.
 
Joseph’s journey will catapult him to the highest echelons of power and grant him entry into the most elite political circles. Even as misfortune continues to follow the Armagh family like an ancient curse, Joseph takes his revenge against the uncaring world that once took everything from him. He orchestrates his eldest son Rory’s political ascent from the offspring of an Irish immigrant to US senator. And Joseph will settle for nothing less than the pinnacle of glory: seeing his boy crowned the first Catholic president of the United States.
 
Spanning seventy years, Captains and the Kings, which was adapted into an eight-part television miniseries, is Taylor Caldwell’s masterpiece about nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, and the grit, ambition, fortitude, and sheer hubris it takes for an immigrant to survive and thrive in a dynamic new land.
 
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    756 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.89 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    150404682X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1504046824
  8. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
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Previous page
  1. “Life is a comedy for the man who thinks, a tragedy for the man who feels.”
    Highlighted by 313 Kindle readers
  2. “We all choose what we wish to be. No one impels or compels us. We may delude ourselves that it is so, but it is not. The same wind which blows a ship on the rocks could blow it into safe harbor. In short, it is not the wind, it is the set of the sail. A man who denies that is a weakling who wishes to blame others for his life.”
    Highlighted by 273 Kindle readers
  3. “Idealism is for those who cannot come to terms with reality,” said Joseph, “nor the world as it is.”
    Highlighted by 170 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An absorbing story . . . Thought-provoking. Those who were enthralled by the power described in The Godfather will be even more so when they read this book.” —Cleveland Press
 
“A spellbinding tale . . . Her sense of timing and her ability to keep even the most alert reader guessing is something readers don’t find very often.” —Hartford Courant
 
“Her best novel.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
 
“This bestselling author can tell an engrossing story. She proves it once again in this gigantic novel.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“There is intrigue, violence, abrupt shift of fortune, enigmatic characters, full details of scene and history, and the unflagging pace of varied action.” —Buffalo Evening News
 
“Captains and the Kings is a thought-provoking, utterly spellbinding novel in the great tradition of Taylor Caldwell’s earlier works, Testimony of Two Men and Great Lion of God.” —The Literary Guild Magazine
 

About the Author


Taylor Caldwell (1900–1985) was one of the most prolific and widely read authors of the twentieth century. Born Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell in Manchester, England, she moved with her family to Buffalo, New York, in 1907. She started writing stories when she was eight years old and completed her first novel when she was twelve. Married at age eighteen, Caldwell worked as a stenographer and court reporter to help support her family and took college courses at night, earning a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Buffalo in 1931. She adopted the pen name Taylor Caldwell because legendary editor Maxwell Perkins thought her debut novel, Dynasty of Death (1938), would be better received if readers assumed it were written by a man. In a career that spanned five decades, Caldwell published forty novels, many of which were New York Times bestsellers. Her best-known works include the historical sagas The Sound of Thunder (1957), Testimony of Two Men (1968), Captains and the Kings (1972), and Ceremony of the Innocent (1976), and the spiritually themed novels The Listener (1960) and No One Hears But Him (1966). Dear and Glorious Physician (1958), a portrayal of the life of St. Luke, and Great Lion of God (1970), about the life of St. Paul, are among the bestselling religious novels of all time. Caldwell’s last novel, Answer as a Man (1981), hit the New York Times bestseller list before its official publication date. She died at her home in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1985.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.; Reprint edition (August 1, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 756 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 150404682X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1504046824
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.89 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,315 ratings

About the author

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Taylor Caldwell

Taylor Caldwell

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Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell (September 7, 1900 – August 30, 1985) was an Anglo-American novelist and prolific author of popular fiction, also known by the pen names Marcus Holland and Max Reiner, and by her married name of J. Miriam Reback.

In her fiction, she often used real historical events or persons. Taylor Caldwell's best-known works include Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician (about Saint Luke), Ceremony of the Innocent, Pillar of Iron, The Earth is the Lord's (about Genghis Khan) and Captains and the Kings. Her last major novel, Answer As a Man, appeared in 1980.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by James Seneca at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
3,315 global ratings
Well worth the time and the read.
5 Stars
Well worth the time and the read.
A monumental work based loosely on the Kennedy Dynasty. A momentous work with over 900 pages. Well worthy the time and the read.
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Top reviews from the United States

Erika in Santa Fe
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly relevant to 2020
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2020
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This is really 2 books intertwined - 1) a novel of a highly intelligent, determined young Irish refugee working his way from being destitute to being one of the richest men in America, and 2) an insightful manual for how to orchestrate enough support to get a populist like Trump elected President

of America in 2016 ... as well as insight on how to defeat him and his enablers in 2020. A MUST read for anyone, especially those who want to defeat the forces behind Trump!

1) the story of a 13-year-old, destitute, determined, highly intelligent, Irish refugee, Joseph Armagh, who lands in
Philadelphia with his young brother and infant sister, born just a day before their mother dies on board. Joseph is determined to support his family, ensure his brother’s and sister’s safety and future ... and become rich. It’s an excellent epic novel spanning half a century, from the civil war to President Woodrow Wilson’s election in 1913. It’s a terrific story and I was anxious to find out what happened next!

2) But what I really want to do is to highly recommend this book to anyone interested in politics. It weaves amazing insight into politics throughout Joseph’s story. I’m amazed that Caldwell had such foresight and insight to describe what would happen in 1916 ... and now in 2020. Caldwell lived from 1900 - 1985, and published this book in 1972.

It’s a manual on how to orchestrate the election of politicians who will divide a Country, protect and greatly increase the riches of the already very rich ... and go to war. I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Bannon and other Trump supporters found it and used it as their manual to get populists elected in America and Europe during the last decade.

Do you want to defeat Trump and his enablers in 2020? READ THIS BOOK! Knowing the opposition’s playbook will greatly increase your ability to succeed.
18 people found this helpful
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San Fran Janet
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly current
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2020
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I started this book on the assumption that it was another wonderful Taylor Caldwell novel. What I discovered was amazing and actually shocking. This story is set in the late 1800-early 1900's but could have been set in today's world. It is a novel about politics of that period but so very, very similar to today's politics. It's frightening in what it revealed to me about what goes on behind the scenes. So many similarities but left me wondering if the same things still go on. I'm afraid they do.

It's about a family who migrates from Ireland with the eldest brother left responsible for his younger siblings. He leaves them in an orphanage and sets out to become rich enough to retrieve them.. He does just that but the tale that ensues is amazing, frightening, and eye opening to me. I would recommend this book to anyone in this day and age.
51 people found this helpful
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C Woods
5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing. Enigmatic. Pertinent.
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
What a great book in this current global turmoil!
Written decades ago, the subject matter is pertinent.

I don't exactly remember how I happened on this literary gem. I'm just glad I did. I found myself totally enthralled by the writing.

This novel about a 13-year-old Irish not who sails to America with his mother and two siblings where they are to join his father in New York is desperately sad and amazingly descriptive as Joseph takes on the responsibility of his siblings as they arrive in America shortly becoming orphans. His serious and mature nature and Irish pride instills in him the grave responsibility of caring for them in an America filled with rejection and prejudice.

The saga covers his life and that of his family as he arrives to be rich and powerful. This ultimately leads him into politics, crime as he becomes a force to be reckoned with in a hostile country.

I cannot say enough what an absorbing and interesting book this is. The plot covers the decade prior to Civil War and almost to WWI where Joseph navigates wars, industrial revolution, politics and the financiers behind the scenes who manipulate the global outcomes.

A definite food-for-thought read, beautifully written with great intelligence. A definite recommendation to readers of historical fiction! I have a new favored author in Taylor Caldwell.
7 people found this helpful
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Charles Kovacs
5.0 out of 5 stars Taylor Caldwell at her best: long and compelling
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2017
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Taylor Caldwell started writing in the late 1930's and in a few years became a best selling author much disliked and ignored by the US Establishment of the time which was already quite liberal regardless of party label. This was due to her abiding espousal of traditional American and Christian ideals and values which are very evident in her books. Captains and the Kings (CAK) was written much later (1972) in her career, almst 40 years after the start of the New Deal and during the domestic turmoil of the Vietnam War.
CAK is a very long book, but thanks to the author's literary skill, it is never boring and even the long descriptions serve to increase the suspense of what is to come. The descriptive paragraphs and pages can be skipped, but to do so is to miss some good English prose. The plot is a saga of a dreadfully poor Irish immigrant becoming a very wealthy man; a familiar story. What makes CAK different is that the book is permeated with Caldwell's political and social views - most of them similar to Ayn Rand's but softened by the author's Christian morality. Even so, her abiding contempt for politicians and for moochers and looters is clear enough, and in view of we have seen since 1972, some of this book may appear prophetic.
Unfortunately, CAK also revolves around the doings of an international conspiracy which the author claims has been running the world for at least 200 years. This conspiracy is not of the anti-Semitic canard variety; indeed Jews are rarely mentioned in this book and then sympathetically, and its leaders here are mainly Protestant Americans, some named. It is a tribute to the author's ability that the book remains a page turner in spite of its improbable premise.
Perhaps five stars is too generous a rating, but this is a powerful book and should be widely read in view of how our world developed since 1972.
99 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Rick Becquet
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read . . . hard to find.
Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2023
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It's nice to see these novels put into e-books.
One person found this helpful
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elizabeth palomo
5.0 out of 5 stars Captains and Kings
Reviewed in Mexico on August 13, 2021
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Excelente relato de la vida de uno de los hombres mas Me gusto mucho poderos de EE. Muy bien documentado.
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Sandy
5.0 out of 5 stars Irish Emigration to America
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is well researched and is the story of an Irish family during the great famine. There are lots of twists and turns. Tsylor Caldwell is a fantastic writer who describes her characters so you can see them very clearly. Good story line and very well written.
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Teca
5.0 out of 5 stars A primeira novela a gente nunca esquece
Reviewed in Brazil on July 8, 2019
Verified Purchase
Esse foi o primeiro livro do gênero que li. Quando tinha 13 anos. Desde então o revisito regularmente para ver a metamorfose que ele sofre de acordo com a minha idade. Foi a primeira vez que o li em inglês e no começo foi um pouco difícil pois vem com diversas gírias irlandesas, como já era de se esperar pela narrativa e história dos personagens. De qualquer forma, com os dicionários que instalei no meu dispositivo Kindle essa tarefa foi facilitada. Um pouco salgado o preço mas por ser a edição em inglês acho que valeu a pena. Livro que guardo do lado esquerdo do peito junto com Irmãos Karamazov e meu adorado Brás Cubas e suas memórias.
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Ginger 1
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautifully written and thought provoking story which I had looked ...
Reviewed in Australia on July 28, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is a beautifully written and thought provoking story which I had looked forwarded to re reading after many years. I was sorely disappointed with the Kindle presentation... full of typos, spelling mistakes and printers marks. Wasn't worth the money. I should have looked for a hard copy. More and more of the books for Kindle are the same! Doesn't anyone look ate presentation before they are put up for sale?
3 people found this helpful
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