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Fiction. Literature. Thriller. Historical Fiction. After discovering six gold Roman coins buried in the mud of the Devil’s Dyke, Barnabas Sackett enthusiastically invests in goods that he will offer for trade in America. But Sackett has a powerful enemy: Rupert Genester, nephew of an earl, wants him dead. A battlefield promise made to Sackett’s father threatens Genester’s inheritance. So on the eve of his departure for America, Sackett is attacked and thrown into the hold of a pirate show more ship. Genester’s orders are for him to disappear into the waters of the Atlantic. But after managing to escape, Sackett makes his way to the Carolina coast. He sees in the raw, abundant land the promise of a bright future. But before that dream can be realized, he must first return to England and discover the secret of his father’s legacy. show lessTags
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Predictably entertaining tale of the adventures of the first Sackett to leave his native England to claim land and find fortune in the wilderness of America.
Barnabas Sackett treats women with care and humor and so far respects the rights of the Native Americans he meets and trades with.
Barnabas Sackett treats women with care and humor and so far respects the rights of the Native Americans he meets and trades with.
Not a very complex book but interesting characters and lots of action. This was a good L'Amour. All kinds of scrapes and escapes, wild battles, and a love story. How can you beat that? Predictable in a good way. A great read.
I last read this book over three decades ago; I feared it wouldn't hold up to my memories. I needn't have feared as there is a reason this is a classic. While this has the feel of a Western (intrepid young hero, beautiful girl, vile villains, fights, wild frontier), the primary characters are English, the frontier is the unexplored North Carolina coast, the fights use Elizabethan weapons, and the "steeds" are ships.
Never fear, the language used is modern English, not Elizabethan, and the tale is a rollicking good one. You know that our hero will prevail (in what L'Amour book does he not?) so the question is how. When this was originally published, books in the series that happened chronologically later had been written, so this is show more filling in the background to the Sackett family.
I still love the book, not just because of the notion that the coastline of the Carolinas is wild frontier, but because of the independence of the main character. Barnabas is a clue to the Sacketts in the later books. show less
Never fear, the language used is modern English, not Elizabethan, and the tale is a rollicking good one. You know that our hero will prevail (in what L'Amour book does he not?) so the question is how. When this was originally published, books in the series that happened chronologically later had been written, so this is show more filling in the background to the Sackett family.
I still love the book, not just because of the notion that the coastline of the Carolinas is wild frontier, but because of the independence of the main character. Barnabas is a clue to the Sacketts in the later books. show less
When Barnabas Sackett stumbles upon sudden good fortune, he can make a business investment that'll take him from England to the frontier of America. But to embark upon his new venture, he'll have to escape from a young nobleman who wants him dead in Sackett's Land by author Louis L'Amour.
Even given this late author's fame for his classic Westerns, this historical fiction adventure isn't exactly a Western. But it sets up Westerns that'll come after this first book in The Sacketts series.
Though I was drawn in by hearing that L'Amour's books don't have spelled-out profanity (a significant "plus" for this quasi-conservative reader), the way I've seen American Indians portrayed in old Western flicks made me hesitant about reading an old show more Western. Well, although this story doesn't depict the indigenous characters as a bunch of brainless brutes or anything, none of the other characters grow past calling them "savages." Still, there's some indication that Barnabas may do some shifting on that score...?
As for the overall story, I found it slow at times but mildly enjoyable with satisfyingly old-fashioned style. Sometimes Barnabas is too perfect and heroic but not in a goody-two-shoed way, and I was pleased to find that the story's key young woman has courage, backbone, sense, and wit. She's no oversweet or helpless damsel.
The book is slightly sloppy in the area of punctuation, with missing quotation marks and a number of other errors. But it isn't the first time I've seen errors in an older mass market paperback from Bantam.
I believe I'll try at least one more book in this series. show less
Even given this late author's fame for his classic Westerns, this historical fiction adventure isn't exactly a Western. But it sets up Westerns that'll come after this first book in The Sacketts series.
Though I was drawn in by hearing that L'Amour's books don't have spelled-out profanity (a significant "plus" for this quasi-conservative reader), the way I've seen American Indians portrayed in old Western flicks made me hesitant about reading an old show more Western. Well, although this story doesn't depict the indigenous characters as a bunch of brainless brutes or anything, none of the other characters grow past calling them "savages." Still, there's some indication that Barnabas may do some shifting on that score...?
As for the overall story, I found it slow at times but mildly enjoyable with satisfyingly old-fashioned style. Sometimes Barnabas is too perfect and heroic but not in a goody-two-shoed way, and I was pleased to find that the story's key young woman has courage, backbone, sense, and wit. She's no oversweet or helpless damsel.
The book is slightly sloppy in the area of punctuation, with missing quotation marks and a number of other errors. But it isn't the first time I've seen errors in an older mass market paperback from Bantam.
I believe I'll try at least one more book in this series. show less
L'Amour's saga of the Sackett family begins with the story of Barnabas Sackett in Elizabethan England. Sackett is a fen man, the son of a soldier. His adventure begins with the discovery of several gold coins. He's able to exchange them for enough money to fund his way to the New World, but not before making a lifelong enemy of Rupert Genester. Readers will need to suspend their disbelief as Sackett collects friends as quickly as he makes enemies. It doesn't take him long to decide whether a new acquaintance is friend or foe. Readers who get past this hurdle will be rewarded with pirates, sea battles, sword fights, and even a bit of romance.
Barnabas Sackett discovers six Roman coins in the mud. It seems like a lucky find, but it will cause him trouble in the long run. Sackett also has a powerful enemy whose inheritance is threatened by promise made to Sackett’s father, and so Barnabas must be eliminated. This adventure story has plenty of action. Sackett is attacked and thrown in the hold of a pirate ship, awaiting a watery grave. How he manages to survive and make his way to America is only the beginning of this long saga. This well-written tale is entertaining and exciting. Not exactly a western - yet - but the promise of more adventures will eventually lead there.
Sacketts are always good. In this book we learn how Barnabas, the patriarch of the clan, came to migrate to America rather than becoming a Baron in his own land.
We see the land and times he lived in, and the beginnings of a dynasty where "'when we're needed, Cousin, we come. That's the law Barnabas Sackett laid down for his descendants."
We see the land and times he lived in, and the beginnings of a dynasty where "'when we're needed, Cousin, we come. That's the law Barnabas Sackett laid down for his descendants."
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Born in Jamestown, North Dakota on March 22, 1908, Louis L'Amour's adventurous life could have been the subject of one of his novels. Striking out on his own in 1923, at age 15, L'Amour began a peripatetic existence, taking whatever jobs were available, from skinning dead cattle to being a sailor. L'Amour knew early in life that he wanted to be a show more writer, and the experiences of those years serve as background for some of his later fiction. During the 1930s he published short stories and poetry; his career was interrupted by army service in World War II. After the war, L'Amour began writing for western pulp magazines and wrote several books in the Hopalong Cassidy series using the pseudonym Tex Burns. His first novel, Westward the Tide (1950), serves as an example of L'Amour's frontier fiction, for it is an action-packed adventure story containing the themes and motifs that he uses throughout his career. His fascination with history and his belief in the inevitability of manifest destiny are clear. Also present and typical of L'Amour's work are the strong, capable, beautiful heroine who is immediately attracted to the equally capable hero; a clear moral split between good and evil; reflections on the Native Americans, whose land and ways of life are being disrupted; and a happy ending. Although his work is somewhat less violent than that of other western writers, L'Amour's novels all contain their fair share of action, usually in the form of gunfights or fistfights. L'Amour's major contribution to the western genre is his attempt to create, in 40 or more books, the stories of three families whose histories intertwine as the generations advance across the American frontier. The novels of the Irish Chantry, English Sackett, and French Talon families are L'Amour's most ambitious project, and sadly were left unfinished at his death. Although L'Amour did not complete all of the novels, enough of the series exists to demonstrate his vision. L'Amour's strongest attribute is his ability to tell a compelling story; readers do not mind if the story is similar to one they have read before, for in the telling, L'Amour adds enough small twists of plot and detail to make it worth the reader's while. L'Amour fans also enjoy the bits of information he includes about everything from wilderness survival skills to finding the right person to marry. These lessons give readers the sense that they are getting their money's worth, that there is more to a L'Amour novel than sheer escapism. With over 200 million copies of his books in print worldwide, L'Amour must be counted as one of the most influential writers of westerns in this century. He died from lung cancer on June 10, 1988. (Bowker Author Biography) Louis L'Amour, truly America's favorite storyteller, was the first fiction writer ever to receive the Congressional Gold Medal from the United States Congress in honor of his life's work, & was also awarded the Medal of Freedom. There are over 260 million copies of his books in print worldwide. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Sackett's Land
- Original title
- Sackett's Land
- Original publication date
- 1974
- People/Characters
- Barnabas Sackett; Abigail Tempany; Jeremy Ring; Coveny Hasling; Ivo Sackett; Rupert Ghester (show all 18); Jublain; Bartholomew Gosnold; Peter Tallis; Corvino; Lilia; Brian Tempany; Luke Hutton; Doll Bartham; Nick Bardle; Rufisco; Potaka; Sakim
- Important places
- London, England, UK; American wilderness, East coast; Devils Dyke, Cambridgeshire, England, UK; The Fens
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- [None]
- First words
- It was my devil's own temper that brought me to grief, my temper and a skill with weapons born of my father's teaching.
- Quotations
- A man needs heroes. He needs to believe in strength, nobility and courage. Otherwise we become sheep to be herded to the slaughterhouse of death.
History is not made only by kings and parliaments, presidents, wars, and generals. It is the story of people, of their love, honor, faith, hope and suffering; of birth and death, of hunger, thirst and cold, of loneliness and ... (show all)sorrow. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And Abigail would be with me.
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