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Book Summary and Reviews of A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

A Column of Fire

A Kingsbridge Novel

by Ken Follett

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  • Sep 2017, 928 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

International bestselling author Ken Follett has enthralled millions of readers with The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, two stories of the Middle Ages set in the fictional city of Kingsbridge. The saga now continues with Follett's magnificent new epic, A Column of Fire.

In 1558, the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict. As power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty, and love. 

Ned Willard wants nothing more than to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But when the lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the religious conflict dividing the country, Ned goes to work for Princess Elizabeth. When she becomes queen, all Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country's first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions, and invasion plans. Over a turbulent half century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. Elizabeth clings to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents.

The real enemies, then as now, are not the rival religions. The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else - no matter what the cost.

Set during one of the most turbulent and revolutionary times in history, A Column of Fire is one of Follett's most exciting and ambitious works yet. It will delight longtime fans of the Kingsbridge series and is the perfect introduction for readers new to Ken Follett.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Though a few notes may be needed to help keep the characters straight, Follett has written another masterly historical novel that will keep readers enthralled well past bedtime." - Library Journal

"A flying buttress of a book ... It's all a bit overwrought for what is, after all, a boy-loves-girl, boy-swashbuckles-to-win-girl yarn, but it's competently done." - Kirkus

"The novel is an immersive journey through the tumultuous world of 16th-century Europe and some of the bloodiest religious wars in history. Follett's sprawling novel is a fine mix of heart-pounding drama and erudite historicism." - Publishers Weekly

"As always, Follett excels in historical detailing, transporting readers back in time with another meaty historical blockbuster." - Booklist

This information about A Column of Fire was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Cathryn Conroy

A Spellbinding, Gripping Thriller (Bonus: You'll Learn History Painlessly!)
This is a work of fiction that is masquerading as nonfiction. Beware! You will learn quite a bit of history while being utterly absorbed in a spellbinding tale. It is the literary equivalent of tricking us into eating our vegetables.

Author Ken Follett has crafted an engaging—and often absolutely gripping—story about the violent and brutal birth of Protestantism in England, France, Spain and the Netherlands in the 16th century. The book, which is the third in the Kingsbridge series and preceded by "Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End," is peppered with real-life people who actually shaped these events, as well as fictional heroes and villains. (A helpful list at the end of the book explains who was real.)

This is a prodigiously researched historical account of a truly perilous time in European history, as kings and queens mandated their subjects' religion—and woe to those who ignored those official edicts. But faith is quite difficult to regulate. People naturally fight for their God, and that leads directly to the fierce, vicious and horribly bloody conflict that characterized the 1500s as Roman Catholics and Protestants battled one another in the belief that the two could not coexist peacefully.

What makes this book a thriller is the imaginative stories of the big and bold fictional characters—engrossing and captivating tales of romance, adventure, conniving tricks and murder—so all that history sneaks up on the reader. And that, quite simply, is the genius of Ken Follett: He is both history teacher and storyteller. (My only complaint is that the retelling of the history sometimes—but not often—gets in the way of the story. When that occasionally happens, it can be a slog to get through it. After all, this is a novel. But the slog is always worth it.)

Warning! This book isn't for the fainthearted, and beware reading it while you eat lunch. There are several absolutely gruesome descriptions of the torture methods used for interrogating and killing prisoners and enemies. It can be raw and brutal, but it is true to the facts.

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Author Information

Ken Follett Author Biography

Photo by Barbara Follett

Ken Follett is one of the world's best-loved authors, selling more than 188 million copies of his thirty-six books. Follett's first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War. In 1989, The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett's most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah's Book Club pick. Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, and prequel The Evening and the Morning, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide. Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife, Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors.

Link to Ken Follett's Website

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