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Book Reviews of Covenant

Covenant
Covenant
Author: James A. Michener
ISBN-13: 9780449214206
ISBN-10: 0449214206
Publication Date: 3/12/1987
Pages: 1,248
Rating:
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 23

4.1 stars, based on 23 ratings
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

9 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

awash-in-books avatar reviewed Covenant on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is one of Michener's better books. (I think _Hawaii_ is his best. _Chesapeake_ is also worth reading, but nothing M ever wrote achieved the level of excellence _Hawaii_ did, a book which is a work of art as well as an informative history.)

_The Covenant_ is about the Dutch boers who settled in South Africa and their relationship to Blacks and other groups and their strange relationship with the Bible and racism.
reviewed Covenant on
As expected from Michener, full of wonderful historical detail while telling a great story. Loved it!
reviewed Covenant on + 149 more book reviews
One of James Michener's best historical novels takes the reader on a tour of southern Africa from almost the beginning of time until the middle of the 20th century.

Michener was an artist who created books that gives the reader a canvas of words, allowing the reader to become absorbed into his created world.

Almost all of Michener's historical novels are "long". I do not find that a problem....with his novels....they end too soon.

I write from the point of view of someone who does not like to "watch the movie" - the movies almost always disappoint.
ASJ avatar reviewed Covenant on + 341 more book reviews
The book is very long but excellent. I know nothing about South Africa when I started it and it gave me a good understanding of its history. One of his best. If you enjoy history this is a very detailed historical fiction book.
reviewed Covenant on + 149 more book reviews
One of James Michener's best historical novels takes the reader on a tour of southern Africa from almost the beginning of time until the middle of the 20th century.

Michener was an artist who created books that gives the reader a canvas of words, allowing the reader to become absorbed into his created world.

Almost all of Michener's historical novels are "long". I do not find that a problem....with his novels....they end too soon.

I write from the point of view of someone who does not like to "watch the movie" - the movies almost always disappoint.
reviewed Covenant on
Very long, but the usual Michener well-told tale
reviewed Covenant on + 16 more book reviews
Michener's massive novel covers the history of South Africa from prehistoric times to 1980 when apartheid was still in force but he could see the it would soon crumble. He creates fictional characters that represent typical people and events, mixing in real events from the Dutch colonization and Boer wards With typical Michener magic he brings the complex history of this land into focus.
toni avatar reviewed Covenant on + 351 more book reviews
This is Volume 2

Missing dust jacket.
reviewed Covenant on + 96 more book reviews
from the back cover:

"Adventurers, scoundrels and missionaries. The best and worst of two continents carve an empire out of the vast wilderness that is to become South Africa. For hundreds of years, their rivalries and passions spill across the land.

"From the Java-born van Doorns spring two great branches of the family. One will create vast, lush vineyards. The other will settle the interior and become the first Trekboers and Afrikaners.

"From the Nxumalos, inhabitants of a peaceful village unchaged for centureies, come those who will unite warrior tribes into the powerful Zulu nation and intertwine forever with teh Van Doorns

"From the Saltwoods, wealthy spice merchants, come missionaries and settlers who join the colored masses and influence the wwars and politics that will change a nation forever.

"THE COVENANT: generations of people who forge a new world in a story of adventure and heroism, love and loyalty, cruelty and betrayal."

This is a thick paperback in ok condition. The other cover is a bit worn, but the pages are all fine.