TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of January 25, 1948

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
HOUSE DIVIDED
Ben Ames Williams
Cover of HOUSE DIVIDED

HOUSE DIVIDED

by Ben Ames Williams · Houghton Mifflin

15 wks at #1 · 18 on list

First published in 1947, this bestselling historical novel is cherished and remembered as one of the finest retellings of the Civil War saga—America's own War and Peace. In the first hard pinch of the Civil War, five siblings of an established Confederate Virginia family learn that their father is the grandfather of Abraham Lincoln. The family's story, and the story of their descendants, is presented in this tale that includes both soldiers and civilians—complete with their boasting, ambition, and arrogance, but also their patience, valor, and shrewdness. The grandnephew of General James Longstreet, the author brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods in history, and details war as it really is—a disease from which, win or lose, no nation ever completely recovers.

7
2
RED PLUSH
Guy McCrone
8
NOTHING SO STRANGE
James Hilton
Cover of NOTHING SO STRANGE

NOTHING SO STRANGE

by James Hilton · Little, Brown

12 wks on list

Story of an American who, as a scientist and a man, faces some of the greatest problems of his time.

9
4
THE BISHOP'S MANTLE
Agnes Sligh Turnbull
Cover of THE BISHOP'S MANTLE

THE BISHOP'S MANTLE

by Agnes Sligh Turnbull · Macmillan

10 wks on list

"Life of a young Episcopal priest in a city parish." Cf. Hanna, A. Mirror for the nation

10
1
UNCONQUERED
Neil H. Swanson
Cover of UNCONQUERED

UNCONQUERED

by Neil H. Swanson · Doubleday

5 wks on list

HISTORICAL NOVEL SET IN MARYLAND, VIRGINIA, DELAWARE AND OTHER COLONIES IN 1763.

11
5
PROUD DESTINY
Lion Feuchtwanger

PROUD DESTINY

by Lion Feuchtwanger · Viking Press

17 wks on list

Historical novel about Benjamin Franklin's trip to France to gain arms and aid from French monarchs Lious XVI and Antoinette.

13
THE PEARL
John Steinbeck
Cover of THE PEARL

THE PEARL

by John Steinbeck · Viking Press

6 wks on list

Based on a Mexican folktale, this is the story of a great pearl found by a poor fisherman, the sorrow it brought to his family, and how it was lost again.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.