Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy

Ken Follett

Aug 2011 · The Century Trilogy Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

Ken Follett’s magnificent historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage.

A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. 

From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families—and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . .

Ratings and reviews

To be honest, the life and death struggle of the five families in this book didn't really grip me. These types of historical dramas always hit harder when a character you identify with is struck down. In Giants, Follett didn't break our hearts thusly as none of the families suffered a catastrophic or tragic loss. I mean, Gregori's lost opportunity at life in America was the closest the author came to serving up the type of life altering sadness that hurts the reader. Perhaps if Billy had not been saved from ten years in prison, after he had survived the horrors of trench warfare, the unfairness that sometimes crosses life would have reminded the reader that cruelty can strike down any man, even one that is just and morally responsible. It's still a good read. In a lot of ways the roll of history reminded of Mr. Chute's grade-10 history class. Mr. Chute would have loved this series.

Great read!! Follett does an exceptional job of mixing actual historical events into his story. One of the best books I've ever read.

It has been a while since I enjoyed so much reading a book. This impossible to put down book follows the interrelated stories of 5 families at the time of the first world war. History is lived through the fictional but historically accurate lives of the characters, German, British and Russian proletarians and nobility. It's mesmerizing to observe empires, political and social systems that have been existing for centuries crumble into dust, and to see a new world order emerging from the ashes of what it was, from all the destruction and the million of death. The book made me realize how much social progress toke place in such a short time span, it made me grateful and appreciative of everything I have, and gave me hope for an even better future. Thanks for all those who fought for justice and democracy, and gave their life to give all of us a better world to live in.

About the author

Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved authors, selling more than 160 million copies of his thirty 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 the author’s most successful 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, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold 38 million copies worldwide.
 
Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors.