Books like The Furies

This was a darker book than the previous one, but featured Amanda, possibly my favorite character in the entire series. We follow her from the Alamo to NYC where things are heating up for the Civil War. As usual, Jakes does a great job showing both sides of the conflicts from a personal view. He drops a lot of historical information in well connected threads throughout, too.Handling the feelings on both sides of the argument that would become the Civil War was particularly masterful, especially since the South's side was seemingly indefensible. It wasn't from their point, though. Their entrenched economy, fears, & opinions were well represented. The division among the North was also well shown. Immigrants couldn't find enough work to feed their families & the city was bursting as more flowed in. Any competition for the few jobs couldn't be born & that included freed slaves, yet it was obvious that blacks weren't subhuman, simply raised & treated that way - all this while those of the North treated factory workers & servants in much the same fashion. Jakes makes the point in a particularly poignant way when hours go by before (view spoiler)[ Amanda casts the deciding vote as to whether to provide medical care for workers injured in an accident. She also has to fight to get free schooling & 'limited' hours for the child-workers. Which made me think back to the gin-soaked 8 & 10 year olds that Phillipe met in the first book of the story in London. (hide spoiler)]