Summary: A history of a fictional small town on one of the rivers of the Chesapeake, as illustrated through the stories of several of it's longest lasting families. Basically, Michener follows several fictional families through the centuries since the area was first settled by white people. Plus looking at the Native Americans who were in the area before that. The impression I get is that while none of these people ever actually lived (well, none of them except a few famous politicians who happened to come visit), chances are that someone like them did live somewhere in the area.
Comments: Again, another long book. That much was probably obvious when you saw the name Michener. But I don't think the book would have been near as good or as effective if it was half it's length. I seem to recall that writing has an adage of "Don't tell; show", and I think that's especially relevant to Michener. I feel like I learned a lot from reading his books, but at the same time, it's really just a series of stories about various fictional people. This book might not be as good of an example of my learning stuff as some of his other books, but the point remains. There is always the aspect of having to try to understand opposing points of view: slaveholders and Nixon-era Republicans.
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