“Taylor Caldwell never falters when it comes to storytelling.” – Publishers Weekly
 
“…one of the world’s most prolific and best-selling authors.” – The New York Times
 
"The lofty peaks of best-sellerdom are traditionally difficult to scale… But there are three American novelists who have climbed to the top not once or twice but over and over again. In so doing they have established themselves as an elite among U.S. fiction writers… All three are women: Edna Ferber, Frances Parkinson Keyes and Taylor Caldwell.” -Life Magazine

Featured Novel

One of Open Road Media's 

Bestselling Titles Of The Year!
 

A Pillar of Iron

A Pillar of Iron

A Novel of Ancient Rome 


New York Times Bestseller: A magnificent novel of ancient Rome and the tragic life of Cicero, who tried in vain to save the republic he loved from tyranny.

In this riveting tale, the Roman Empire in its final glory is seen through the eyes of philosopher, orator, and political theorist Marcus Tullius Cicero.

From his birth in 106 BC in the hill town of Arpinum, Cicero, the educated son of a wealthy member of the equestrian order, is destined for greatness. At a young age, he discovers the legend of the Unknown God, the coming Messiah, and it propels him on a journey of spiritual conflict and self-discovery that takes the rising young lawyer from his tumultuous family life to his tenuous alliance with Julius Caesar to a fateful love affair with the Roman empress Livia and, finally, to the political role that will make him a target of powerful enemies—and secure his legacy as one the greatest influences on Western civilization.

Based on hundreds of speeches, voluminous private correspondence, and ancient texts and manuscripts, this bestselling epic brings into focus Cicero’s complicated relationships with his contemporaries, including Caesar, Mark Antony, and Crassus, and brilliantly captures the pageantry, turmoil, and intrigue of life in ancient Rome. According to legendary editor Maxwell Perkins, author “Taylor Caldwell is a storyteller first, last and foremost, and once you begin reading one of her books, you can’t help finishing it.”

Featured Articles:

Taylor Caldwell's "Great Lion of God"

Michael Fried

It is one thing to have faith in Jesus, say in his resurrection, or that he is divine. It is quite another to understa nd Jesus. Paul understood Jesus. Considering the circumstances, it is puzzling just exactly how he did that. More puzzling still, how did Paul get so much of the rest of the world to try to do the same.

Read full article

The Middle Class Must Not Fail

Taylor Caldwell

With the rise of the industrial civilization in the world, about 200 years ago, there also arose a social body which we know as the middle class. Before that, most of the world suffered under a feudal system in which the people were truly slaves of their governments in all things. There was no strong buffer between them and their despotic rulers, no assurance of freedom to pursue commerce and to live decently, to keep the fruits of their labor and hold the pain of tribute at a minimum. The middle class made the dream of liberty a possibility, set limits on the government, fought for its constitutions, removed much of governmental privilege and tyranny, demanded that rulers obey the just laws as closely as the people, and enforced a general civic morality.

Read full article

“No Eunuch Ever Wrote a Book”

Peter B. Gemma

That was the late novelist Taylor Caldwell’s take on her phenomenally successful career, but she is no longer a well-known name among avid fiction readers. Then again, who hears much about Irving Wallace or even John Dos Passos these days?

 

Among fiction writers who hold the all time record of appearing on the New York Times bestseller list, Taylor Caldwell is in position number five (Tom Clancy is ninth; Dr. Seuss logs in at 17). At one point, Fawcett Publishing House had 25 million paperback copies of 25 of her titles in print, including two that were serialized for television, “Captains and the Kings” and “Testimony of Two Men” (4.5 million and 2.7 million copies respectively).

Read full article

Descendants' Reviews of Taylor Caldwell novels

The Descendants of Taylor Caldwell© is offering extended reviews of Caldwell's novels. Caldwell was prolific and extremely well-known (from the late 1930s through the 1980s), where she appeared often on best seller lists. Her range in time, topic and character still recommends many of those novels to modern readers. Synopses of first eight novels recently published by Open Road Media will be found in the Descendants' Reviews section of the Reviews page as they are published.  

© 2016 by Descendants of Taylor Caldwell LLC