• The Pillars of the Earth

  • By: Ken Follett
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 40 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (34,733 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)

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What listeners say about The Pillars of the Earth

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Previous Ratings Read Before Purchase

Sometimes I’ll purchase an Audible book because of the high number of positive ratings/reviews and be so disappointed...did I just miss the value of work? Read many ratings before purchasing Pillar, and happy to agree with almost all of the positive reviews. Excellent book and at this time top of my list to recommend to all friends, even those hard-to-please.

Strayed away from my spy/detective/mystery types of stories; so glad; to add, was reinvigorated to read/listen to the next great book...maybe even a Follett novel.

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I now want to tour cathedrals

Love, love, love this book! Highly recommend for the historical aspect! Follett is an amazing storyteller!

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  • 09-01-21

10 stars

my favorite. ever.
i became completely engrossed from the start... it made every other aspect of life boring.
i particularly loved the characters and enjoyed the story being told over a span of several decades

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Great Delivery

John Lee did such a fantastic job with this book. Ken Follett is a master storyteller and Lee does his novels justice. This is the best historical fiction series I have ever read.

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great

Fourth time thru this book. Enjoy it just as much each time. Highly recommend.

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Maybe the best story I have ever heard

This is an incredible story, extremely well written and performed by Mr. Lee. Over 40 hours of pure listening pleasure, I could barely put my phone down the entire time!

This was the first book by Ken Follett that I have read or listened too but definitely not the last one. I highly recommend this title.

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Pillars of the Earth

I have never before understood a book with such a huge story. I could never keep the characters straight, never got the relationships of so many characters, never learned so much about a subject (actually building churches), never enjoyed a story as much as this one. I was very sorry when it had to end. I'll be looking for all the 'Follet' books I never paid attention to before. Thanks

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Perfect!

Ken Follett writes the perfect book and John Lee does an amazing job with the narration. This was a book that I never wanted to end. Follett takes the reader to a time and place and makes one feel as though they are there. You love and hate the characters along the way. Great listen

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My Favorite Ken Follet to Date

Would you listen to The Pillars of the Earth again? Why?

I saw the movie first and knew I wanted to read the book. I had previously read Eye of the Needle, I figured this would be just as good if not better. I wasn't disappointed a great listen.

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happy

I enjoy books written in this particular period of time. This did not disappoint. It had a little of everything. I was not confused by the various characters and storylines going on at the same time.What a surprise by Ken Follett. I look forward to other books like this

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