Here is a "faction" series that was written in conjunction with the Bicentennial celebration in the mid 70s. I read them then, and watched several of the TV miniseries that were developed from them. I was very impressed with the books and the miniseries.
At the time, I recall some historians criticized the practice of writing fiction based on fact. They said the authors didn't have to fact check carefully, since the books are fiction, after all. I don't agree. As someone else posted, a well-written book inspires further research in the real history of what happened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kent_Family_Chronicles
The Kent Family Chronicles (also known as
The American Bicentennial Series) is a series of eight
novels by
John Jakes written for
Lyle Engel of Book Creations, Inc. to commemorate the
200th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence of the United States.
[1] The books became
best sellers, with no novel in the series selling fewer than 3.5 million copies.
[2] With
The Rebels,
The Seekers, and
The Furies, Jakes became the first author to have three books on the
New York Times bestseller list in a single year, 1975.
[3]
The books feature different members of the Kent family, connecting them with historical events at the time of the
American Revolution. The first novel begins just before the American Revolution, with
Frenchman Phillipe Charboneau, who travels to
England and later to the
New World, changing his name to Philip Kent along the way and meeting several key figures of the Revolution, including
the Marquis de Lafayette,
Benjamin Franklin,
Samuel Adams,
Paul Revere,
Joseph Warren, and others. The saga ends some generations later in 1890, with the death of Gideon Kent in
The Americans. The series was originally intended to continue until 1976, covering 200 years.
[4]
