I was so busy last week I barely got through The Mabinogion, despite its being a re-read, so I'm trying something a little lighter this time around, as well as re-reading rather than starting something completely new. I will, however, be doing two books that go well together: Sackett and The Sackett Brand, by Louis L'Amour. Louis L'Amour, born in North Dakota as Louis Dearborn LaMoore, is perhaps the most popular writer of Westerns of all time. He was also very prolific, with around a hundred novels and more than two hundred short stories to his career.
Arguably his most popular works are his Sackett novels, which tell the story of the Sackett family, originating out of East Anglia and spreading through the American frontier. That series has the following books (as well as a number of short stories, and Sacketts playing minor roles in other books); they are listed in rough narrative order, with the publication dates in parentheses:
(1) Sackett's Land (1974)
(2) To the Far Blue Mountains (1976)
(3) The Warrior's Path (1980)
(4) Jubal Sackett (1985)
(5) Ride the River (1983)
(6) The Daybreakers (1960)
(7) Lando (1962)
(8) Sackett (1961)
(9) Mojave Crossing (1964)
(10) The Sackett Brand (1965)
(11) The Sky-Liners (1967)
(12) The Lonely Men (1969)
(13) Mustang Man (1966)
(14) Galloway (1970)
(15) Treasure Mountain (1973)
(16) Ride the Dark Trail (1972)
(17) Lonely on the Mountain (1980)
Sackett and The Sackett Brand tell part of the story of William Tell Sackett, better known as Tell, and his love and loss. And, as with all the Sackett books, and very many Westerns, the theme is simple and straightforward: civilization begins with family.
