This sequel to North and South (1985) – a 12-hour miniseries like its predecessor – continued to trace the triumphs and travails of two prosperous families: the Mains, who run a plantation in South Carolina, and the Hazards, who operate an ironworks in Pennsylvania. Two generations of Mains and Hazards graduated from West Point together, and the families have intermarried.
Northerner George Hazard (James Read) – although wounded in the Mexican War in the original series – has survived to serve as chief military adviser to President Lincoln (Hal Holbrook). Meanwhile, his lifelong friend, Southerner Orry Main (Patrick Swayze), is continually at the elbow of the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis (Lloyd Bridges).
With the Civil War now in full flight, battles are frequent in Book II – Bull Run, Antietam, Petersburg, Lynchburg, Five Forks and Gettysburg are shown – and they are exceptionally well-staged by over 1,500 amateur Civil War re-enactors.
All the battle scenes were filmed over two-and-a-half weeks on a 200-acre farm near Natchez, Mississippi.
Book II runs from the outset of war to Appomattox, where General Robert E Lee (William Schallert) surrenders to General Ulysses S Grant (Anthony Zerbe) in the final episode.
While most of the cast from the original miniseries returned for this sequel (which was based on the John Jakes novel Love and War), there were a few changes. Billy Hazard was now played by Parker Stevenson (replacing John Stockwell), and Mary Crosby replaced Wendy Fulton as Isabel Hazard.
Three marriages amongst the cast and crew resulted from the filming of this series: James Read and Wendy Kilbourne, Jonathan Frakes and Genie Francis, and Lesley-Anne Down and Assistant Cameraman Don E. FauntLeRoy – who would later handle the cinematography for the subsequent third sequel, North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell (1994).
Orry Main
Patrick Swayze George Hazard
James Read Madeline LaMotte Main
Lesley-Anne Down Elkanah Bent
Philip Casnoff Justin LaMotte
David Carradine Constance Flynn Hazard
Wendy Kilbourne Virgilia Hazard
Kirstie Alley Isabel Hazard
Mary Crosby Stanley Hazard
Jonathan Frakes Brett Main Hazard
Genie Francis Ashton Main Huntoon
Terri Garber Augusta Barclay
Kate McNeil James Huntoon
Jim Metzler Charles Main
Lewis Smith Billy Hazard
Parker Stevenson Mrs Neal
Olivia de Havilland Rose Sinclair
Linda Evans Burdetta Halloran
Morgan Fairchild Abraham Lincoln
Hal Holbrook Jefferson Davis
Lloyd Bridges Rafe Beaudeen
Lee Horsley Dorothea Dix
Nancy Marchand Capt. Thomas Turner
Wayne Newton Clarissa Main
Jean Simmons Miles Colbert
James Stewart Congressman Sam Greene
David Ogden Stiers Maude Hazard
Inga Swenson General Ulysses S. Grant
Anthony Zerbe General Robert E. Lee
William Schallert Lt. Rudy Bodford
Michael Dudikoff Cpl. Strock
Burton Gilliam Semiramis
Erica Gimpel General Philip Henry Sheridan
Clu Gulager Lt. Stephen Kent
Whip Hubley Cuffey
Forest Whitaker Thaddeus Stevens
Lou Felder Ezra
Beau Billingslea
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With the Civil War now in full flight, battles are frequent in Book II – Bull Run, Antietam, Petersburg, Lynchburg, Five Forks and Gettysburg are shown – and they are exceptionally well-staged by over 1,500 amateur Civil War re-enactors.
