Fall of Giants

Century Trilogy, Book 1

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

The first in Ken Follett's breathtaking Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants is a captivating novel that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women.

A World in Chaos

1911, a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy Williams, begins working down the mines as George V is crowned king. The escalating arms race between the empire nations will put not only the king but this young boy in grave danger.

A Terrible War

Billy’s family is inextricably linked with the Fitzherberts, the aristocratic owners of the coal mine where he works. And when Maud Fitzherbert falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London, their destiny also becomes entangled with that of Gus Dewar, an ambitious young aide to Woodrow Wilson, and two orphaned Russian brothers whose plan to emigrate to America falls foul of conscription, revolution and imminent war.

A Revolution That Will Change Everything

When Russia convulses in bloody revolution and the Great War unfolds, the five families’ futures are entwined forever, love bringing them closer even as conflict takes them further apart. What seeds will be sown for further tragedy in the twentieth century and what role will each play in what is to come?

Continue the captivating Century Trilogy with Winter of the World and Edge of Eternity.

©2010 Ken Follett (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Loved it!

It was worth all those hours.
Get the hole trilogy! I herd one next to the other 110 house latter I and ended up wanting more.

John Leigh as always, is the best Narrator.

One of Follet's best historical page-turners. I knew very little about the causes of WW1 and was delighted to listen to this well-researched novel. I could hardly stop listening and waited for every chance to return to this novel.

very good story

Follett has once again written an excellent story. His storytelling skills are extraordinary. However, there are parts of the novel which are more of a history lesson than anything else. It's obvious Follett did tons of research and at times it seemed like he had to get all his discoveries into the story. That said it was good except for those history lesson portions. I am not sure how to feel about Fitz, I have a love hate relationship with him. I wanted him to die, but I wanted him to live. He is the most realistic character and even in our modern times there are still people like him. Lev is selfish beyond words and people like are here too. I won't go on about the other characters but those two hurt me the most. I feel sad for the Russians they swapped one bad situation for another and it still haunts them today. This novel reminded me that there is futility in the separation of people into religion, class and all the rest of it because we are all the same.

Great characters and narration

I really enjoyed this book and more ready to dive into his next book. The narrator is excellent!

fantastic book that taught me so much

Wanting to learn everything I missed in history class, this book was not only immersive in terms of its character development, but also helped me in terms of remembering history.