Philip Kent fights for the future of his adopted country and of his own wife and son, as British oppression leads America further into Revolutionary War... About the Author: John Jakes is the bestselling author of Charleston , the Kent Family Chronicles , the North and South trilogy, On Secret Service , California Gold , Homeland , and American Dreams . Descended from a soldier of the Virginia Continental Line who fought in the American Revolution, Jakes is one of today's most distinguished authors of historical fiction.