NZ Green

I started reading some of his books last year, beginning with Carribbean. These books are an excellent way to learn about the history of an area/ country - mixing fictional family histories with real historic events = epic novels. Michener died in 1997, but there's this English writer, Edward Rutherfurd, who's carrying on this style of novel, albeit so far mostly on areas of England which he's most familiar with (read Sarum - the building of Stonehenge is described in full detail)

BTW in Carribbean, there's a chapter focusing on a rastafarian - this rasta guy from Jamaica travels to an island (in the eastern Carribbean) and tries to persuade local farmers that growing ganja is better than the crops they're already growing. The local island authorities initially don't want this fellow around, because of the ganja, and they also fear his religious beliefs might scare away white tourists. But they eventually learn to 'tolerate' him, realising he's not the menace they thought he might be.