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Pillars |
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The Pillars of the Earth
(Book 1) |
*Set in 12th-century England, the narrative concerns the building of a cathedral
in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The ambitions of three men merge, conflict and collide through four decades during
which social and political upheaval and the internal politics of the church affect the progress of the cathedral and the
fortunes of the protagonists. The insightful portrayals of an idealistic master builder, a pious, dogmatic but
compassionate prior and an unscrupulous, ruthless bishop are balanced by those of a trio of independent, resourceful women
(one of them quite loathsome) who can stand on their own as memorable characters in any genre. Beginning with a mystery
that casts its shadow on ensuing events, the narrative is a seesaw of tension in which circumstances change with shocking
but true-to-life unpredictability. Follett's impeccable pacing builds suspense in a balanced narrative that offers action,
intrigue, violence and passion as well as the step-by-step description of an edifice rising in slow stages, its progress
tied to the vicissitudes of fortune and the permutations of evolving architectural style. Follett's depiction of the
precarious balance of power between monarchy and religion in the Middle Ages, and of the effects of social upheavals and
the forces of nature (storms, famines) on political events; his ability to convey the fine points of architecture so that
the cathedral becomes clearly visualized in the reader's mind; and above all, his portrayals of the enduring human emotions
of ambition, greed, bravery, dedication, revenge and love, result in a highly engrossing narrative.
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World Without End
(Book 2) |
*On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the
cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a
doctor. In the forest they see two men killed.
As adults, their lives will be braided together
by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy
will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One
girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always
they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful
childhood day.
World without End is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. However, it doesn’t
matter which you read first. The second book is set in the same town, Kingsbridge, but takes place two
hundred years later, and features the descendants of the original characters.
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World Without End
Exclusive Signed Boxed Edition |
Autographed by the Author
Exclusive boxed and signed limited edition of the magnificent sequel to the worldwide best
selling epic masterpiece The Pillars of the Earth available only from
www.panmacmillan.com.
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A Column of Fire
(Book 3) |
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.
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The Century Trilogy |
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Fall of Giants
(Book 1) |
*The first novel in The Century Trilogy follows the fates of five interrelated families,
American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First
World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
Thirteen year old Billy
Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits; Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love,
finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House; two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev
Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls
afoul of war, conscription, and revolution; Billy's sister, Ethel, 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 Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London.
These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding
drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, 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. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and
rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new
classic.
In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will
travel through the great events of the rest of the twentieth century, changing themselves and the century
itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now
will never seem the same again. |
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Fall of Giants
Exclusive Signed Boxed Edition |
Autographed by the Author
Exclusive boxed and signed limited edition.
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Winter of the World
(Book 2) |
*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.
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Edge of Eternity
(Book 3) |
Edge of Eternity, the finale, covers one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, encompassing civil rights, assassinations,
Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution—and rock and roll.
East German teacher Rebecca Hoffman discovers she’s
been spied on by the Stasi for years and commits an impulsive act that will affect her family for generations… George Jakes, himself bi-racial, bypasses corporate law
to join Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice Department and finds himself in the middle of not only the seminal events of the civil rights battle, but also a much more personal
battle… Cameron Dewar, the grandson of a senator, jumps at the chance to do some espionage for a cause he believes in, only to discover that the world is much more
dangerous than he’d imagined… Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Khrushchev, becomes an agent for good and for ill as the Soviet Union and the United States race to the
brink of nuclear war, while his twin sister, Tania, carves out a role that will take her from Moscow to Cuba to Prague to Warsaw—and into history.
These
characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as they add their personal stories and insight to the most defining events of the 20th century. From
the opulent offices of the most powerful world leaders to the shabby apartments of those trying to begin a new empire, from the elite clubs of the wealthy and highborn
to the passionate protests of a country’s most marginalized citizens, this is truly a drama for the ages. |
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Individual Novels |
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Whiteout |
*A missing canister of a deadly virus. A lab technician bleeding from the eyes. Toni
Gallo, the security director of a Scottish medical research firm, knows she has problems, but she has
no idea of the nightmare to come.
As a Christmas Eve blizzard whips out of the north, several
people converge on a remote family house. Stanley Oxenford, the research company’s director, has
everything riding on the drug he is developing to fight the virus – but he isn’t the only one: His
grown children, who have come to spend Christmas, have their eyes on the money it will bring.
Toni Gallo, forced to resign from the police department in disgrace, is betting her career on keeping
the drug safe; a local television reporter, determined to move up, has sniffed the story, even if he
has to bend the facts to tell it; and a violent trio of thugs is on its way to steal it for a client
already waiting – though what the client really has in mind is something that will shock them all.
As the storm worsens, the emotional sparks – jealousies, distrust, sexual attraction, rivalries –
crackle; desperate secrets are revealed; hidden traitors and unexpected heroes emerge..
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