The Sackett Companion: A Personal Guide to the Sackett Novels

The Sacketts

by Louis L'Amour

Little did Louis L'Amour realize back in 1960 when he published The Daybreakers, a novel about two brothers who came west after the Civil War, that he had begun creating what would become perhaps North America's most widely followed literary the Sacketts. The stories of ten generations of Sackett man and women as they forged westward from tyranny-wracked seventeenth-century England across the American continent have captivated readers for three decades through seventeen  novels with nearly forty millions copies in print. The traditions and adventures of this family of rugged individualists who stand indomitably united when any Sackett is in trouble have inspired country songs, a popular television miniseries starring Tom Selleck (as Orrin Sackett) and Sam Elliot (as Tell Sackett), thousands of reader queries--and  now, a rare full-length work of non-fiction by the worlds' all-time best-selling frontier novelist.

In a 60 Minutes profile in which he hailed Louis L'Amour as "our professor emeritus of how the West was won," correspondent Morley Safer observed that "his plots may be fiction by the details therein are fact." The Sackett Companion is the author's long-savored opportunity to present the research and probe the factors behind his Sackett fiction--novel by novel--and to elaborate on their real and fictional characters, their geography and locales, and their historical eras in encyclopedia-like detail.

In this book, subtitled A Personal Guide to the Sackett Novels, L'Amour takes us on a guided tour of his imagination to introduce us to the never-before-told sources and inspirations for these stories and the people and places that populate them. He retraces some of his travels in which he "has walked the land the Sacketts walk, reliving such personal memories as the street fight he had on a hot dusty morning in New Mexico that ultimately led to the birth of the Sacketts.

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Reference, Classics

341 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[Richard]

A great addition to any Louis L'Amour collection, this book is filled with trivia, insights and useful information. Here is one of my favorite parts:

It has often been said that we have but one life to live; that is nonsense. If one reads fiction he or she can live a thousand lives, in many parts of the world or in outer space. One can cross a desert, climb the Himalayas, or experience the agony of defeat, the triumph of victory, the pangs of starvation, or the choking thirst of the desert, all while safely at home.
The book has been man's greatest triumph, his most profound success. Seated in my library I live in a Time Machine. In an instant I can be transmitted to any era of history, any part of the world, even to outer space. Often I am asked in what period of history I would have preferred to live, and I wonder that they do not see, for I have lived in them all. I have listened to Buddha speak, I have marched with Alexander, sailed with the Vikings, or in their double canoes with the Polynesians. I have been at the courts of Queen Elizabeth and Louis the XIV; I have explored the West with Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger; I have been a friend to Captain Nemo and have sailed with Captain Bligh on the Bounty. I have walked in the agora with Socrates and Plato, and listened to Jesus deliver the Sermon on the Mount.
Above all, and the most remarkable thing, I can do it all again, at any moment. The books are there. I have only to reach up on the shelves and take them down and live over again the moments I have loved. Surely, we live today in the greatest moment of history, for at no other time have books been so readily available, in the book stores, in the public libraries, and in the home.
- Louis L'Amour, p.262, The Sackett Companion

[Donna]

The hubs and I watched 'The Sackett's a four-hour miniseries that I found out had been originally shown on the NBC network and I had known that he had written several books about the Sackett family so I found that the library had this book about them. I enjoyed it a lot. Mr. L'Amour talks about each novel, the characters, both fictional and real, and the locations each book is set in. There is a lot of history in each of the books and he didn't just read about the places, he went to most of the places he wrote about. I have always enjoyed history and this book was a great read that gave me even more enjoyment about places I didn't know anything about. I found the two paragraphs about Port Royal, Jamaica to be fascinating.

[John]

Hove no idea why I got this book - I do Like the Sackett novels but you really have to like them to enjoy this

[Oleta Blaylock]

I have only read small parts of this book. If you are a true Sackett family fan and want to know more about the books and the thought processes that went into creating those stories. You need to get this book and go through it. There is also a partial family tree in one of the last few chapters that is so wonderful. There is are lists of all kind of things found in the books, Fictional and Historical Characters, Places, Ranches and Brands, Books, etc, etc. There is also an Index.

[Lewis Smith]

Glad I found this book, because I had 'previously' thought I had read most of the Louis L'Amour "Sackett" series. Louis adds a very well written synopsis about the value of reading near the end of this book - the last three paragraphs of page 262; starting with "It has often been said . . . " Very well said and very insightful!

[Rachel]

Soooooo informative and interesting! I loved getting to hear real history behind these books, and I loved the occasional peek into L'Amour's creative processes. And the maps! And the character profiles! I would read the section on each book in the series after I finished it, and that was such a fun way to finish each book.

[Neil Doherty]

The Sackett books are good. But Libby did not have many of the later books in the series. And I won’t likely finish the series unless I can borrow more of them. L’Amour is predictable and the stories are not propulsive. This book, per se, is best read before, during, or immediately after reading one of the books in the series.

[Kyle Miller]

Love The Sackett series! This companion has really enriched my understanding of America and I truly enjoyed following Barnabas from the Fens of England to the Carolinas, and Jubal as he made his way Westward. It was like I was reliving one of my ancestors lives.

[Carol Buchanan]

The companion book of the Sackett's

This really gives a background and the research that went into the series of the Sackett stories, and is very informative.

[Faith]

I wish he had lived longer and wrote more. Such an amazing writer with a strong eye for detail. No wasted words.

[Jacob Aitken]

Fiction aside, L'Amour gives a number of insights on the West. My only problem with the book is that the list of stories isn't in order of events.

[Charles Lovelace, III]

Filled with factual data regarding the Sackett series.

[Joey]

Own paperback. Read off and on

[Sam]

Read a few of the story backgrounds. This was interesting, but not enough to read through all of them. It’s been too long since I’ve read any of the actual stories

[William Knight]

I loved this book. It has a plethora of background information on the Sackett books written by Louis L'Amour. I read it after rereading the Sackett books. I should have read the section for each book as I started it. While reading it separately was fun, it would have been better for me to read both books together.

The background information is well-researched. Mr. L'Amour has walked or ridden over most of the landscape covered in the books. He also understands the history due to extensive research and writes his books in that historical context.

This book lays out a map for future Sackett books the author planned to write in the future. Sadly, he didn't get many of them written. A partial Sackett family tree is included in the book.

I'd recommend this book to any fan of Louis L'Amour's books, but especially for those like me who enjoy the Sackett books.

[Ed]

804.91 A personal guide to the Sackett novels. 17 novels spanning the adventures of the Sackett from 1600 England to the American Western frontier of 1880. Although author L'Amour planned on at least 45 novels spread over the period, the 17 novels written are heavily back-ended with 12 of them taking place in the 1870s.

[Serena]

I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Fredrick Danysh]

A guide to the Sackett novels of Louis L'Amour identifying the characters and their relationships. It also provides a flow chart of where L'Amour wanted to go with the stories of the sacketts.

[Don Gubler]

Good background and back story information. I wish I had had this available to read as I was reading the stories.

[Anthony]

One of the best and truthful introductions. Read this before you start the Sackett series.

[Jay Adams]

Really helps to have this book on hand when ready the Sackett series in chronological order.

[Kaye Lynne Booth]

Interesting and helpful