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)

Anxious for Book 3

What did you love best about Winter of the World?

This was really an interesting book that offered a lot of perspective into the global struggles leading up to WW2 and into the beginnings of the Cold War. Follett does a great job of creating believable characters that you want to succeed or to be killed off accordingly! John Lee is my favorite narrator so far from all of the books I have downloaded from Audible.

Great Listen

As usual, Ken Follett is a great story teller. He brings history to life. A must listen if you like Ken's other books.

All Americans don’t speak like Mobsters

Liked the book but suggest to the narrator that he update his research on how Americans sound when they speak. It was grating to listen to all Buffalo and Washington DC characters speak like mobster Al Capone. Not every Brit speaks with an East end accent right ? #Buffalo isn’t Brooklyn !

Wonderful Depiction of World War 2

Ken Follett does a wonderful job of weaving together all sides of the war from different perspectives making the reader see aspects of this tragedy. What a beautiful story teller.

La mejor novela de la 2a guerra mundial

Este libro relata cómo se vivió la guerra desde la perspectiva de 5 familias entrelazadas en diferentes países involucrados en el conflicto. Es tan clara la descripción de hechos y los diálogos que duele escucharlos.

What you expect from Ken Follett, a great book,

narrator was excellent, characters well flushed out, painted a complete picture with a good tempo

Infused with Today's Political Agenda

Story is well done, but I could've done without the story lines associated with today's social issues. If TODAY'S identity politics is something you're trying to escape from, you should probably move on. For that reason, I'll probably hold off on listening to the 3rd installment of the trilogy.

Worth the wait!!!

I'm sad that its over. Ken Follett as always carries all his characters so well throughout the book and the historical events that they feel real. I loved FoG but WoW exceeds my expectations. I was expecting that Ken Follett would have chapters of Hitler and his death camps like all other history books, but I was glad that the focus was on the characters and the camps and Hitler were mentioned if any character's storyline went through it. This book is about the second generation of characters from FoG after WW1 and the book starts at an excellent pace and it never loses that pace. Cannot wait for End of Eternity.

John Lee did excellent as always. Just like my FoG review, he was great at all the accents. Cockney, Welsh, English, American, Russian, German.

Audible fix Part 3 of the 4 downloaded files. So just download that if you want to re-read the fixed part.

Follett has done it again

I always find it amazing when an author can write a 20 hour book and when it's over I'm sad that it is.

Follett is the best at historical novels and this one doesn't disappoint.

Another hit for Mr. Follett

What made the experience of listening to Winter of the World the most enjoyable?

Another hit for sure. This is another great story. I can't pick any single item, I guess the fact that it follows history. Like Michener he ties the story to actual history and it just makes it gripping.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lloyd I just identified with him very much.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

He does them all well

If you could take any character from Winter of the World out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Mabel, because I just think she was hot.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for number three!!