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Book Summary and Reviews of Winter of the World by Ken Follett

Winter of the World by Ken Follett

Winter of the World

Book Two of the Century Trilogy

by Ken Follett

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  • Sep 2012, 960 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as "sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks" (USA Today) and "grippingly told and readable to the end" (The New York Times Book Review). "If the next two volumes are as lively and entertaining as Fall of Giants," said The Washington Post, "they should be well worth waiting for."

Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, Welsh - enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until she commits a deed of great courage and heartbreak. ... American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific. ... English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight Communism just as hard as Fascism. ... Daisy Peshkov, a driven American social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set, until the war transforms her life, not just once but twice, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war - but the war to come.

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century. From the drawing rooms of the rich to the blood and smoke of battle, their lives intertwine, propelling the reader into dramas of ever-increasing complexity.

As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. With passion and the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"While some may find Follett’s verbosity daunting, others will applaud his dedication and ability to keep so many plots spinning while delivering a story that educates, entertains, and will leave fans eagerly awaiting the trilogy’s crowning capstone." - Publishers Weekly

"This second installment will be just as popular as its predecessor, and it deserves to be." - Library Journal

"Follett's storytelling is unobtrusive and workmanlike…he spins a reasonable and readable yarn that embraces dozens of characters and plenty of Big Picture history." - Kirkus Reviews

"Follett never lets the action lag as he adeptly ties together all the sweeping economic, cultural, political, and social transformations of the entire era." - Booklist

This information about Winter of the World 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

Great Literature This Is Not. But Great History It Is. In Fact, It's a First-Rate History Lesson.
Great literature this is not. But great history it is.

This is a first-rate lesson in history—from 1933 to 1949 with most of the emphasis on World War II—told with real facts and imaginary characters in a plot-driven novel that will place you, the reader, on the ground in Nazi Germany, war-torn, bombed-out England, coal-mining country in Wales, frozen Russia, and in the balmy waters around Pearl Harbor on a fateful December Sunday morning. And while the dialogue is often unrealistic, and the writing a bit forced, the history lesson is riveting and one that we must never, ever forget.

Before British author Ken Follett shocked his publisher and surprised his reading public by writing engrossing, bestselling sagas about the building of medieval cathedrals, he paid his bills by penning World War II spy thrillers. So Follett is in his element in this book, the second in a trilogy about the 20th century that is officially called the Century Trilogy. (And, yes, you really should read them in order to better appreciate the characters.)

The book follows five primary families, with many supporting characters, who live in the hot zones of Germany, England, Russia, Wales, and the United States. And while there are plenty of bloody battle scenes and horrific details of Nazi behavior, the story is tempered with lots of love and sex.

Ken Bensinger

Winter of the world.
The characters are well developed and the history is accurate. Very well written and interesting story lines.

Author seems obsessed with the sex life of all characters however and it seems somewhat overdone. Was not needed.

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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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