• The Pillars of the Earth

  • By: Ken Follett
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 40 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (34,693 ratings)

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The Pillars of the Earth  By  cover art

The Pillars of the Earth

By: Ken Follett
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's summary

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known...of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul...of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame...and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of 12th century England, this is Ken Follett's historical masterpiece.

©1989 Ken Follett (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

"Follett is a master." (The Washington Post)

"A historical novel of gripping readability, authentic atmosphere and detail and memorable characterization." (Publishers Weekly)

Featured Article: The Best Historical Fiction Audiobooks


Often based on real people, events, and scenarios, historical fiction gives us the opportunity to learn about worlds and times we will never experience while introducing fascinating characters and stories set in their midst. Sometimes, the genre can even give us a peek into hidden storylines that routinely go unmentioned in traditional history books, showing us that those of ages past are perhaps not so different from ourselves.

What listeners say about The Pillars of the Earth

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Fabulous

This was an epic story with amazing details that educated me while it entertained me!

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Great Performance, Ends Abruptly after all the meandering

Title explains it all without giving it away. The performance is wonderful. The writing and descriptors are great. Love that it is historical and keeps to the period, but dislike how after all the careful planning of every plot winding back to each other, the ending just comes out of nowhere.

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Couldn’t finish because I didn’t want it to end!

How have I just now read this book at the age of 42! It was amazing and I found myself a bit depressed when it ended and I had to part ways with my favorite characters!!

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recommended to me 30 years ago, still a hit.

what a great story of interweaving character plots. with deceptions, treachery, charity, and church construction. I'll probably listen to it again!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Characters were compelling

Storyline was great. Too graphic in several parts but otherwise good plot and great character development

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Excellent book

Epic story. Characters are awesome. Narrator is perfect. Definitely worth the credit. I will probably listen to it again

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One of the best books ever written.

This book has been a favorite for many many years, I’ve read and reread it countless times and am so happy with the audio version of it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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LONG, But simply amazing.

Someone will explain to you what this book is about. You will read the liner jacket and confirm what this book is about. You will see how many pages the book is and realize the time commitment. This book will not interest you. Read it anyways. You will not be disappointed.

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Lengthy but worth it

Quite a story. It was a great unfolding of all the characters and influential side people paramount to the story. Though making it until the end, I felt it could’ve ended sooner at many points, but it was wrapped up very predictably with a happy ending and all “getting their due” .

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Excellent read

Incredibly well written and John Lee did an amazing job bringing it all to life.

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