Winter of the World

The Century Trilogy, Book 2

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 31 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Picking up where Fall of Giants, the first novel in the extraordinary Century Trilogy, left off, Winter of the World follows its five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - through a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the great dramas of World War II, and into the beginning of the long Cold War.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until daring to commit 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 social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set until war transforms her life, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war but also the war to come.

©2012 Ken Follett (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Gripping....powerful." (The New York Times)

"[Follett] is so good at plotting a story, even one that takes on such a complex topic such as the World War II era. That's what makes Winter of the World so hard to put down. You want to know what happens next." (The Associated Press)

"A consistently compelling portrait of a world in crisis." (The Washington Post)

Follett...consistently good writer.

Yes, I have read or listened to all of his recent books, and have found them entertaining and informative. At the age of 72, I can relate to most of the history covered, and in several situations...with some first hand knowledge. His characters are well developed and help bring the history to life. Admittedly, my academic experiences were mostly focused on high tech and finance. So, for me, these historical forays are new explorations which appeal to thirsty minds. No question, I look forward to the next one.

Mixed feelings

Follett is clearly a talented writer but tends to let his political beliefs mar the story. I made the mistake of doing so brief research on Ken only to find out(unsurprisingly) that he's very left of center. I don't care what your politics are but when you are constantly bashing conservatives in your story it's a big turn off.

Loved this book

Never a boring moment, interesting characters that you are invested in, history’s unsung heroes and believers that seem to repeat in our times. This is also very upsetting and difficult. Definitely wonderfully done

Wonderful story with accurate history

Ken Follett has done it again. A wonderful, moving story that takes place during World War 2. Very interesting to learn about what was going on during the wartime from Russian, German, English & American viewpoints.

typically in style of Ken follett.

truly I appreciate it this narrator for his wonderful accents and mesmerizing ability 2 swoop you into the depth of this frightening story

Binge listen

This author is always wonderful in my estimationit is especially fun to binge listen to the entire trilogy!

Ken Follet does it again.

Would you consider the audio edition of Winter of the World to be better than the print version?

Yes, John Lee ,the narator adds a great deal to the presentation.

What did you like best about this story?

the changes in the characters due to the effects of war

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

yes, the entire Follet collection. All were excellent.

Follett Never Fails

I enjoyed this second installment in the trilogy, but found it tedious in the beginning -- a much slower start than in Fall of Giants.

While hearing or reading about the Holocaust sickens and horrifies me, I was disappointed that a mere half page or so was spent on discussion of the the Holocaust -- almost as an afterthought, it seemed. How do you tell the story of WWII without examining the Holocaust? I recognize that there is much to examine between 1933 and 1949, but I think Follett failed as a historical novelist by only giving the Holocaust the very briefest of mentions. Another failure: how can there be no mention of kamikazes?

So why do I still give it four stars? Well, Follett barely mentioned the Holocaust and didn't mention kamikazes at all, but the stories he did tell were well told. I look forward to the next installment in the trilogy. In a sense, I almost give Follett a pass on the Holocaust issue because it has been so well covered by other authors and he examined the other issues that are rarely touched upon. As usual with Follett, the character development (and growth) was excellent, despite a large cast of characters.

I listened to the audio version narrated by John Lee and found his narration superb, as it was in Fall of Giants. Five starts for performance.

It's just as good listening to it the second time!

I love the way the books in this series give a such a captivating variety of perspectives on history. Among other things, this book made me feel sincere and profound gratitude to all the people (whose names we'll never know) who risked their lives to secretly undermine the Nazis.

loved it

I didn't know if I would like this series as I'm not much of a history buff, but these books have just enough characters woven in the stories to make to make the books wonderful