Rhett Butler's People | 
 enlarge | Author: Donald Mccaig
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Rating:  208 reviews
Sales Rank: 10906
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.8
ISBN: 0312262515
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312262518
ASIN: 0312262515
Publication Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: GOOD with average wear to cover and pages. May contain minimal highlighting, inscriptions, or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text
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Amazon.com Review
Margaret Mitchell's story of Scarlett O'Hara's and Rhett Butler's beguiling, twisted love for each other, set against the gruesome background of a nation torn apart by war, is by all accounts epic--so much so that it feels untouchable. Yet McCaig's take on what many would consider a sacred cow of 20th-century American literature is a worthy suitor for Mitchell's many ardent fans, for reasons that may not be altogether obvious. It would be easy to look at Gone With the Wind and Rhett Butler s People side by side and catalog what is accurate and what isn't and tally up the score. In doing so, however, the fan is apt to miss out on the best part of this whole book: Rhett Butler himself. McCaig's Rhett is thoroughly modern, both a product of his Charleston plantation and an emphatic rejection of it. He is filled with romance and ingenuity, grit and wit, and a toughness matched only by a sense of humility that evokes so gracefully the hardship and heartbreak of a society falling apart. It's not hard to love Rhett in his weakness for Scarlett's love, but it is entirely amazing to love him as he rescues Belle Watling, mentors her bright young son Tazewell, adores his sister Rosemary, dotes on dear Bonnie Blue, and defends his best friend Tunis Bonneau to the very end. To pluck a character from a beloved book and recalibrate the story's point-of-view isn't an easy thing to do. Ultimately, the new must ring true with the old, and this is where Rhett Butler s People succeeds beyond measure. In the spirit of Mitchell's masterpiece, McCaig never questions that love--of family, lover, land, or country--is the tie that binds these characters to life, for better or worse. --Anne Bartholomew
Product Description
Fully authorized by the Margaret Mitchell estate, Rhett Butler’s People is the astonishing and long-awaited novel that parallels the Great American Novel, Gone With The Wind. Twelve years in the making, the publication of Rhett Butler’s People marks a major and historic cultural event.
Through the storytelling mastery of award-winning writer Donald McCaig, the life and times of the dashing Rhett Butler unfolds. Through Rhett’s eyes we meet the people who shaped his larger than life personality as it sprang from Margaret Mitchell’s unforgettable pages: Langston Butler, Rhett’s unyielding father; Rosemary his steadfast sister; Tunis Bonneau, Rhett’s best friend and a onetime slave; Belle Watling, the woman for whom Rhett cared long before he met Scarlett O’Hara at Twelve Oaks Plantation, on the fateful eve of the Civil War.
Of course there is Scarlett. Katie Scarlett O’Hara, the headstrong, passionate woman whose life is inextricably entwined with Rhett’s: more like him than she cares to admit; more in love with him than she’ll ever know…
Brought to vivid and authentic life by the hand of a master, Rhett Butler’s People fulfills the dreams of those whose imaginations have been indelibly marked by Gone With The Wind.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 203 more reviews...
A mixed bag October 8, 2008
Roger Long (Port Clinton, OH USA)
Much of the book is quite interesting, in that it fills out the character of Rhett Butler. In GWTW, the book and movie, he appears and disappears without our knowing from whence and to where. With this book, we learn about the events that shaped his character--from the beatings by his cruel father to his association and partnership with Belle Watling.
Also good is the depiction of the ante-bellum South, especially Charleston, where secession was born. There is a myth about that era, propagated by post-bellum, 2nd generation Southerners. Only a small percentage of the whites lived on comfortable plantations, worked by happy slaves. A London newspaperman traveled through the South just before the war and was amazed to find that so many white illiterates, so much chewing tobacco on the sidewalks. Still, there were the Taras so GWTW was not entirely inaccurate. The present book continues that myth but fleshes out the other reality a bit.
However, when this book attempts to describe military actions, it is woefully inaccurate. One example: Morgan's Ohio raid of July 1863 is a mess in this book. Gen. John Hunt Morgan is replaced by a fictional colonel, who looks at "Pommery, Ohio," rather than Pomeroy, Ohio, in Meigs County, on the Ohio River. Morgan's raiders tried to cross the river near there, and some made it into West Virginia, which was scarcely safe Confederate territory at the time. The rest of Morgan's men were forced eastward and were captured near East Liverpool. The prisoners did not go to prison in Illinois, as is suggested in this book, but were sent to Camp Chase, Johnson's Island and the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. Morgan escaped from the latter site. I can't imagine why the author decided to change history so drastically, when the real story could have served his purpose just as well.
There is also confusion with respect to the sequence of when military events took place. The Ohio raid followed closely upon Gettysburg, in July, and yet the southerners shivered in the cold. In another place, southerners cross the Potomac River into Pennsylvania. What happened to Maryland? In another case a train leaves Georgia, enters Mississippi, then proceeds into Alabama. Another case: Maj. Ashley Wilkes was all over the place in the war, in the Army of Northern Virginia, in the Army of Tennessee, and in raids into Kentucky. In the Mitchell book he is with Gen. Gordon, strictly in Lee's army.
It is hard to overlook these errors and maintain a sense of reality in reading this. Margaret Mitchell was far more careful in mentioned battles and in adhering to accurate timelines.
It is unfortunate that the author of Rhett Butler's People let his book be marred by errors that any student of the Civil War will see.
 An Amazing Read! October 1, 2008
Tiff Blaho
I recently purchased and read this book. Based on the reviews that I had read, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the book. I am so glad that I was wrong. Are there flaws with the book? Absolutely, the main one being the way Melly is protrayed. However, with all of the flaws, it is still an amzing read! If you didn't like the way Alexandra Ripley continued the story, you should really get satisfaction from this book. Congratulations Mr. McCaig on a job well done!!
 A book written by committee September 28, 2008
Veronica Y (Tualatin, OR United States)
As someone who works with creative teams and has seen the results when creation by committee goes horribly awry, I wondered as I read through the first part of this book if the Margaret Mitchell estate had meddled in the writing. The story was so incoherent and the characters so empty, it was if the author wasn't really inhabiting his work. I read online this is apparently true, with estate lawyers providing guidance of all things! My sympathy to the author! In most of this book we have very little insight into the inner world of Rhett Butler, to me the most intriguing character of the original -- we see what he goes through as a young man but we have little idea of the person developing inside as a result. The plot comes from the war instead of characters. There were some clever interpretations of back stories hinted at in the original book (did Rhett and Belle have a son together?). The new characters were not terribly interesting but mostly in reaction to something around them -- in the original the characters are iconic and colorful, standing for key values and Southern viewpoints. The last few chapters hone in finally on the original characters (with Rhett's sister added) to retell the post-war story, thankfully departing from the terrible 'Scarlett Goes To Ireland' sequel by Ripley. The last chapters were more interesting and satisfying. But would Scarlett really allow herself to go down into poverty and be satisfied with field hand status waiting for Rhett? Not from everything said about her before. She would have been searching for the next opportunity to care for her family beyond poverty. I think it was a man's fantasy that even Scarlett O'Hara would keep herself in poverty so Rhett would come save her at the end.
Not even close. September 26, 2008
Loves to Read
Hmmm....What can I say about this read? Though I have read and love GWTW, I don't feel that I am a purest about the original. I have also read the first sequel, Scarlett, and enjoyed it for the most part. Rhett Butler's People just lacked depth. The characters that I have learned to love where shallow, and unbelievable. The premise of the book could have been great, describing Rhett Butler's past and views on the whole GWTW saga. However, I felt that the writing was simply NOT good. Don't buy this one, go to the library.
The BEST novel I've read in 25 years! September 21, 2008
Jane Austen Fan (Pasadena, California)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
McCaig is a virtuoso of the written word. I have no idea how any true fan of the original GWTW can give it less than 5 stars. McCaig has taken our favorite scoundrel, lover and hero and made him BETTER! He's still all that he ever was, but you are allowed to see the thoughts behind the action. And what glorious thoughts!
Each page screams loving dedication and hours of research. I have studied the Civil War extensively, have a library of over 100 books on the subject, have sojourned in its many battlefields contemplating the destruction, waste and tragedy of mankind. But somehow McCaig has made it easier to understand.
Do not hesitate to buy this one. I just can't believe I waited this long to read it.
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