Irwin Shaw (1913–1984) is a name in English literature that is not just notable, but significant. Irwin Shaw has become one of the few writers capable of conveying a high literary essence into a deceptively simple form of entertaining fiction. The events of the saga of two generations of the Jorda family slowly unfold before the reader - a saga in which there is a place of violent passions and crimes, travel and the pursuit of success, business and politics, love and betrayal, sincere family affection and the intense drama of difficult relationships. The history of the Jordache family, as if in a mirror, reflects the bright and turbulent history of America itself in the second half of the twentieth century... The novels formed the basis of two wonderful television series, American and domestic, which gained enormous popularity.