Century 1. Fall of Giants

Zusatztext Praise for Fall of Giants "Follett is masterly in conveying so much drama and historical information so vividly . . . grippingly told." The New York Times Book Review "Follett conjures the winds of war." The Washington Post "A good read. . . . It's a book that will suck you in! consume you for days or weeks . . . then let you out the other side both entertained and educated. That's quite the feat." USA Today "Grand in scope! scale! and story." The Associated Press "Follett entwines fiction and factual events well. . . . This is a dark novel! motivated by an unsparing view of human nature and a clear-eyed scrutiny of an ideal peace. It is not the least of Follett's feats that the reader finishes this near thousand-page book intrigued and wanting more." Chicago Sun-Times "Fascinating! in a big way." St. Louis Post-Dispatch " Fall of Giants is a book for you to savor! one in which you can lose yourself for hours on end. It is a big book that tells a big story! but it is one you will not want to end." The Huffington Post "Follett once again creates a world at once familiar and fantastic. . . . A guiltless pleasure! the book is impossible to put down. . . . Empires fall. Heroes rise. Love conquers. After going through a war with these characters! you're left hoping that Follett gets moving with the next giant installment." Time Out New York "A suspenseful epic." The Seattle Times "Tantalizing." Newsday Informationen zum Autor Ken Follett Klappentext Ken Follett's magnificent new historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man's world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families-and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . . Look out for Ken's newest book, A Column of Fire, available now. CHAPTER TWO January 1914 E arl Fitzherbert, age twenty-eight, known to his family and friends as Fitz, was the ninth-richest man in Britain. He had done nothing to earn his huge income. He had simply inherited thousands of acres of land in Wales and Yorkshire. The farms made little money, but there was coal beneath them, and by licensing mineral rights Fitz's grandfather had become enormously wealthy. Clearly God intended the Fitzherberts to rule over their fellow men, and to live in appropriate style; but Fitz felt he had not done much to justify God's faith in him. His father, the previous earl, had been different. A naval officer, he had been made admiral after the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, had become the British ambassador to St. Petersburg, and finally had been a minister in the government of Lord Salisbury. The Conservatives lost the general election of 1906, and Fitz's father died a few weeks laterhis end hastened, Fitz felt sure, by seeing irresponsible Liberals such as David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill take ov...

Praise for Fall of Giants

"Follett is masterly in conveying so much drama and historical information so vividly . . . grippingly told." —*The New York Times Book Review

*"Follett conjures the winds of war." —*The Washington Post

• "A good read. . . . It's a book that will suck you in, consume you for days or weeks . . . then let you out the other side both entertained and educated. That's quite the feat." —USA Today
• "Grand in scope, scale, and story." —The Associated Press

*"Follett entwines fiction and factual events well. . . . This is a dark novel, motivated by an unsparing view of human nature and a clear-eyed scrutiny of an ideal peace. It is not the least of Follett's feats that the reader finishes this near thousand-page book intrigued and wanting more." —*Chicago Sun-Times

• "Fascinating, in a big way." —*St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• "Fall of Giants is a book for you to savor, one in which you can lose yourself for hours on end. It is a big book that tells a big story, but it is one you will not want to end." —The Huffington Post 

"Follett once again creates a world at once familiar and fantastic. . . . A guiltless pleasure, the book is impossible to put down. . . . Empires fall. Heroes rise. Love conquers. After going through a war with these characters, you're left hoping that Follett gets moving with the next giant installment." —*Time Out New York 

• "A suspenseful epic." —The Seattle Times

"Tantalizing." —Newsday

Auteur

Ken Follett

Texte du rabat

Ken Follett's magnificent new historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man's world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution.

From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families-and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . .

Look out for Ken's newest book, A Column of Fire, available now.

Résumé
Ken Follett’s magnificent historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage.

A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. 

From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families—and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . .

Échantillon de lecture
CHAPTER TWO

• January 1914
  
  • Earl Fitzherbert, age twenty-eight, known to his family and friends as Fitz, was the ninth-richest man in Britain.

He had done nothing to earn his huge income. He had simply inherited thousands of acres of land in Wales and Yorkshire. The farms made li…