The accents used by the reader are worse than the first book! The Russian sounds like Dracula and the women sound like drag!

The historical storyline is good and the connection that evolve between characters is well done

No! I was more invested in the story than the performance

A wonderful tapestry of lives shaped by, and shaping, the world at both personal and national levels. If, like me, you find history compelling but want much more than the dry facts which make no sense apart from the people who make it this is a compelling read. It appears to have been well researched and is certainly well crafted.

Good sequel. History we know, told differently.

When the 3 focal young men see the truth, and barbaric conduct, of the Nazis and the communists and are shocked into reality, each from their own naive beliefs.

John Lee does a great job of luring you into the book and keeping you there..

I read the Pilars of the Earth set, and now this set of trilogies. I'm not much into history but have enjoyed his take on these events but creating families whose lives cross from time to time, to show the real impact of life events and how it affected real life. He has brought us into and out of the two world wars by showing what was happening before and after that would have led to these happenings.When each book is ove you want the next one!

I highly recommend this book. BUT, get "Fall of Giants" first. This is the second book of a trilogy and there is generational continuity with the characters that flows from one book to the next. The rich historical research that the author has done comes alive through the lives of the characters. It's not light reading but you will be much richer for listening to this series.

Fall of Giants, the first book of this trilogy.

I never really thought about the fact that it was a performance. Each character lives as he personalizes each one. You have to tolerate some readers. Not so with John Lee. Every book I've ever listened to with him as the reader is the same. That fact causes me to look twice at any book if he is the reader. If you look up the word "outstanding" in the dictionary you will probably find John Lee's name.

The story weaves its way through the lives of several characters while maintaining an integrity of plot line.

It would have been better if the narrator had NOT tried to use the various accents of the characters...very distracting.

Each character grabs and holds your interest as you grow with them.

John Lee and Ken Follett pair up again to create a compelling listen!

I liked volume 1 but I loved volume 2. The story captivated me and is excellently told. One of the best historical fiction I've ever enjoyed.

This book took several starts for me. It starts with rise of fascism and communism. It is difficult to listen to, knowing what was to come. It was harder for me to establish the characters in my mind's eye with such a stressful start. The book does a good job of illustrating the development of the world during the early-mid century. Much of this time is troubled so much of this book the characters are troubled.

John Lee does his usual fantastic job of narration. Like all Ken Follet books a web of fictional characters and accurately depicticted history are skillfully woven together. There is quite a lot of sexual content much of it not needed for the story.

I enjoyed the first installment on this trilogy, Fall of Giants. I looked forward to the second. I will not listen to the next one. Whether Follett portrayed a number of his characters with contemporary social/moral sensibilities for the sake of pandering to his readers or because of his own ignorance is beyond me. Few young girls in the 1940's even knew what oral sex was, let alone surprise a man with it. Ask an octegenarian, if you can find one who will not think you are disgusting for bringing it up. And if you were homosexual during WWII, you surely kept it a secret. Even during the VietNam years--and I am young enough to know firsthand--nobody was "okay" with homosexuality, open or otherwise. But giving credit for the Marshall plan to George Marshall because his name was on it stunk to high heaven. The idea came mostly from President Truman. He put Marshall's name on it (with Marshall's permission) because he needed to use the man's popularity to get the thing passed. Follett should have known that.

Not really. There are interesting facts about WWII revealed which is a credit to Follet's research skills, but none of the characters came alive for me. I couldn't remember any of them from the first book, so it was like reading a whole new book.

I have read all of Follett's book and some of them are amongst my absolute favorites. However, this series will be at the lower end of the favorite list for me, sadly.

Thought that John Lee sounded too much like he was reading.

probably not

disappointed