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Winter of the World (The Century Trilogy #2)

by Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)

4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 · rating details · 16,487 ratings · 2,815 reviews

Ken Follett follows up his #1 New York Times bestseller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, page-turning epic about the heroism and honor of World War II, and the dawn of the atomic age.

Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as “sweeping and fascinating, a book tha...more Ken Follett follows up his #1 New York Times bestseller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, page-turning epic about the heroism and honor of World War II, and the dawn of the atomic age.

Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as “sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks” (USA Today) and “grippingly told and readable to the end” (The New York Times Book Review). “If the next two volumes are as lively and entertaining as Fall of Giants,” said The Washington Post, “they should be well worth waiting for.”

Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, Welsh—enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.

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

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century. From the drawing rooms of the rich to the blood and smoke of battle, their lives intertwine, propelling the reader into dramas of ever-increasing complexity.

As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. With passion and the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.(less)

Hardcover, 960 pages

Published September 18th 2012 by Dutton (first published January 1st 2012)

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Sep 23, 2012 Christine Hughes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ken Follett's second book in his Century trilogy ' Winter of the
World ' is turning in to an excellent dramatisation of Eric Hobsbawm's ' The Age of Extremes '.

It has all the ingredients of ' Fall of Giants ' easy to read, absorbing, intriguing and never far from actuality of the age. I would recommend this book to anyone who is not really into History but likes a cracking story.

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Oct 26, 2012 Marco Tamborrino rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Why was it, Lloyd wondered, that the people who wanted to destroy everything good about their country were the quickest to wave the national flag?”

Non ho letto il libro in inglese, ma non avendo sottolineato le citazioni, per evitare di cercarle ho preso quella che mi serviva in inglese.

Dunque, non c'è molto da dire. È un buon romanzo, senza infamia e senza lode, un buon romanzo che ha il vantaggio di lasciarsi leggere quasi troppo facilmente, tanto che se uno è privo di grandi impegni, può le...more “Why was it, Lloyd wondered, that the people who wanted to destroy everything good about their country were the quickest to wave the national flag?”

Non ho letto il libro in inglese, ma non avendo sottolineato le citazioni, per evitare di cercarle ho preso quella che mi serviva in inglese.

Dunque, non c'è molto da dire. È un buon romanzo, senza infamia e senza lode, un buon romanzo che ha il vantaggio di lasciarsi leggere quasi troppo facilmente, tanto che se uno è privo di grandi impegni, può leggerselo in 3-4 giorni.

Parliamoci chiaro: il progetto della trilogia Century è ambizioso e lodevole. Quindi bravo Ken Follett. Un progetto del genere, però, non richiede solo una grande documentazione storica, politica e scientifica, ma anche tanta pazienza e tanto lavoro di rifinitura. Lavoro che, nel caso di questo secondo capitolo, non è stato assolutamente svolto. Il primo m'è sembrato più completo, più studiato. Se parli della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, non puoi lasciar perdere eventi fondamentali solo perché in 1000 pagine non ti ci stanno o perché non hai voglia di parlarne. Ne scrivi 1500, di pagine, oppure stringi il carattere, ché tanto quello che usi è decisamente grande. Magari, invece di metterci due anni, ce ne mettevi 5 - e lo so che l'attesa è orribile per noi lettori -, e ci presentavi un lavoro fatto come cazzo si deve. Le ultime 200 pagine, tralasciando le ultimissime 10, sono davvero brutte. Di una svogliatezza sconcertante. Non rovinano di certo le decine di belle pagine che le precedono, ma stonano terribilmente.

Mi parli della Guerra Civile di Spagna e poi nemmeno una pagina sull'Italia fascista o su Mussolini? E la notte dei cristalli?

Apprezzabilissimo il tentativo di paragone tra le brutture del nazismo e del comunismo, e a questo propostito è importantissima la figura di Erik, da fervente nazista a fervente comunista. Drammatica la presa di Berlino da parte dei sovietici. Sbagliato additare tutti i tedeschi come nazisti.

Bellissimo il personaggio di Daisy, di una dinamicità incredibile. Il suo percorso di maturazione è splendido e rappresenta un grande insegnamento.
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Nov 04, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, first-reads

I was a First Reads winner! I feel so lucky that I won a copy of this book. I have a habit of opening a book and reading the first couple of sentences in the book. If it doesn't grab my attention I have a hard time reading on. I can't actually review this book yet because I am not quite done with "Fall Of Giants" yet, which I insist on finishing first. I am really enjoying that book so far. I love the setting and the characters are interesting. I very much want to see what becomes of them. I di...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Carl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

The 20th century is the most dramatic and violent period in the history of the human race. We killed more people in the 20th century than in any previous century, in the trenches of World War I, in the Soviet Union under Stalin, in Germany under the Nazis, Spain under Franco. There was World War II and the bombing of Dresden by the British and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was a horrible century and yet it is also the century of liberty.

Very few countries were democratic before the First World War....more

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Nov 20, 2012 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fraudio, autumn-2012, published-2012, series, nazi-related, war, wwii, historical-fiction

~35 hours. John Lee (Narrator)

pre-release blurb: Berlin in 1933 is in upheaval. Eleven-year-old Carla von Ulrich struggles to understand the tensions disrupting her family as Hitler strengthens his grip on Germany. Into this turmoil steps her mother’s formidable friend and former British MP, Ethel Leckwith, and her student son, Lloyd, who soon learns for himself the brutal reality of Nazism. He also encounters a group of Germans resolved to oppose Hitler - but are they willing to go so far as t...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Jay Connor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My rating would have been 2 and one-half stars if Goodreads had given me the option. Plus I think the divergence of this review from the "average" of the reviews for the book is as much due to the cognitive dissonance of not "really enjoying" a book that you've slogged thru 960 pages to complete, than a passionate embrace of "Winter."

As much as I liked the first volume of Follett's 20th Century Trilogy -- Fall of Giants -- I was disappointed by this second installment. The back cover blurb: "The...more My rating would have been 2 and one-half stars if Goodreads had given me the option. Plus I think the divergence of this review from the "average" of the reviews for the book is as much due to the cognitive dissonance of not "really enjoying" a book that you've slogged thru 960 pages to complete, than a passionate embrace of "Winter."

As much as I liked the first volume of Follett's 20th Century Trilogy -- Fall of Giants -- I was disappointed by this second installment. The back cover blurb: "These characters and many others find themselves inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century." If that sounds like the TV show, Law & Order's breathless "ripped from the headlines," you'll understand the decaying of literacy to pulp we have in this awkward middle child.

The first test of great historical fiction is: did it get the history right? Ken Follett, no surprise, has got the history down pat. I've read quite extensively about the period leading up to and including the Second World War and I think Follett got the pulse of the times and the events aligned to their proper significance, including the important occurrences on the margin e.g., the Spanish Civil War and the Manhattan Project.

The second test, which truly separates the excellent historical fiction from the good is the use of characters and their reactions to and against the riptide of events. With all due respect to the above quoted blurb, it is this area where we are let down. This cast and their human weaknesses and strengths fail to fully inform and make rational the seemingly contradictory and incoherent implosions and dynamisms of the time. Follett continues with the next generation(s) of the interrelated families he introduced us to in "Fall..." -- American, German, Russian, English and Welsh. But here, the sweep of characters instead of being broad feels more incestious. They fail to reveal their world in a fashion better than nonfiction. For example, just considering the rise of the Nazi's, last year's "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson is much more revelatory. Which is harsh indictment of a piece of historical fiction.

This is the second of what Follett is calling his Century Trilogy. Both Follett and installment one are enough to keep me encouraged for the concluding volume, but I am a little leery especially given the working title: "Edge of Eternity." But I guess that is better than "Springtime for the Plutocrats."

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Sep 28, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, historical-fiction, war

First, Follett does a great job of making a fat book fly by. However, for a book that makes up something called "The Century Trilogy", I'm a little disappointed that the first two books only covered the first half of the century. Will the next book only make it to the fall of the Berlin Wall and then we're done?

Second, Follett does a wonderful job reminding us that war is horrific. He really doesn't hold back. If you're at all appalled by the fact that humans can be truly AWFUL to each other, t...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Grazia Omicini rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Raccontare la storia dal punto di vista di persone vere o verosimili, facendo sentire come ha inciso profondamente sulle vite di uomini e donne come noi, è geniale e si annida profondamente nelle nostre menti. Dall'avvento del nazismo al Piano Marshall passando per la realizzazione della bomba atomica, mille pagine che si leggono d'un fiato e rendono meglio comprensibili tanti fatti. Inoltre non è male, ogni tanto, rinfrescarsi la memoria su quanto siano stati atroci i totalitarismi europei del...more

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Nov 13, 2012 CB rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ken Follett is a mediocre writer, but a stellar storyteller. His characters are cardboard, his dialogue wooden and on the nose, his prose pedestrian and perfunctory. As for his punctuation of dialogue: ugh. I said: "Please take away Follett's colon key, stat." (No, Ken, a colon is not interchangeable with a comma.)

But still - the pages demand to be turned.

WINTER OF THE WORLD picks up right after FALL OF THE GIANTS, with the sons and daughters of the latter novel's characters facing the Spanish C...more Ken Follett is a mediocre writer, but a stellar storyteller. His characters are cardboard, his dialogue wooden and on the nose, his prose pedestrian and perfunctory. As for his punctuation of dialogue: ugh. I said: "Please take away Follett's colon key, stat." (No, Ken, a colon is not interchangeable with a comma.)

But still - the pages demand to be turned.

WINTER OF THE WORLD picks up right after FALL OF THE GIANTS, with the sons and daughters of the latter novel's characters facing the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the start of the Cold War. Oddly enough, the Depression is pretty much glossed over and doesn't seem to affect anyone. While the book does focus on a German family, the rise of Hitler is depicted as a forceful takeover by a bullying, thuggish mob and the economic conditions that helped him rise are pretty much non-existent. The book also follows wealthy and/or privileged American, Russian and British families not much affected by the economy, and even the Welsh working class characters of FALL OF THE GIANT are solidly middle class (and Members of Parliament) in this book.

But aside from the curious lack of the Depression, the book hits all the highlights of mid-20th century history. Follett doesn't stray far from the popular, accepted narrative of World War II. Nazis and Russian secret police: bad. Americans & Brits: decent sorts. His German characters are all fervent anti-Nazis, of course, with one exception (but he's depicted as weak-willed and easily led.) The Russians are a bit more nuanced, despising Stalin's violent excesses but seeing them as necessary steps on the road to communist paradise. The Americans are oddly apolitical, even when serving in the US government; Follett mentions but doesn't examine too closely Roosevelt's land-lease program nor the big US companies who did business with Nazi Germany. The international political maneuvering was a highlight in FALL OF THE GIANTS; I was sad not to see more of it in this book.

So if anyone needs an entertaining Cliff Notes to European History 1933-1949, this might hit the spot. (Cliff Notes in terms that the history is briefly and concisely presented; it's certainly not Cliff Notes in length!) (less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites-read-in-2012

Winter of the World is a very large book but, just like its predecessor Fall of Giants, not a page is too long and every chapter is a pageturning delight. Ken Follett knows arguably better than any writer how to breathe life into a book, largely though its sympathetic and believable characters, both male and female. I had a few minor issues with the depiction of some of the female characters here but otherwise I was utterly and happily immersed in the novel and its fantastic plot, which turns on...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Max rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the first of this trilogy – Fall of Giants. It was excellent. Winter of the World continues in the same superlative fashion. The narrative is quick and absorbing. Through the eyes of interesting characters, you get a front row seat in the most memorable historical events that were really not that long ago. The first book took me inside the world my grandparents experienced. This one transported me into the events that shaped my parents. The book provides in-depth perspectives and describe...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Dem rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting long....................long.................... read but not up to the standard of Pillars or Fall of Giants.

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Dec 03, 2012 Una rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed the 2nd book in this trilogy, although perhaps not as much as the first. For me, it gets a bit tough, though, to remember all of the various characters from one book to the next--maybe I'd do better to wait until the novels are all published & read them consecutively? My memory is evidently faltering in my old age...

This book brought an awareness of the humanity/inhumanity of war, & individuals, to this reader....from each of the various countries involved. There is no such thi...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, ed-presença, históricos, romance

O século XX foi, sem sombra de dúvida, um dos mais - senão o mais - negros e sangrentos da História. Foi um século de lutas por uma vida melhor, por direitos que hoje damos como garantidos; um século de guerras (duas delas mundiais) em que foram cometidas das mais sádicas e maiores atrocidades até hoje documentadas; mas foi também um século de conquistas e de liberdade. É o angustiante retrato desta época que Ken Follett vai compondo de forma magistral nas páginas da sua mais ambiciosa trilogia....more O século XX foi, sem sombra de dúvida, um dos mais - senão o mais - negros e sangrentos da História. Foi um século de lutas por uma vida melhor, por direitos que hoje damos como garantidos; um século de guerras (duas delas mundiais) em que foram cometidas das mais sádicas e maiores atrocidades até hoje documentadas; mas foi também um século de conquistas e de liberdade. É o angustiante retrato desta época que Ken Follett vai compondo de forma magistral nas páginas da sua mais ambiciosa trilogia.

Neste segundo volume, encontramos as mesmas cinco famílias que já havíamos conhecido antes, agora mais numerosas, aumentadas pela nova geração. Gente que vive a sua vida com a normalidade com que todos nós encaramos o dia-a-dia, a maior parte das vezes alheios às intrigas e conjuras políticas que nos rodeiam e que os iriam conduzir a um destino trágico. Mais uma vez, através de uma escrita cuidada mas fluída e das descrições simples mas muito visuais, o autor consegue transportar-nos directamente ao local e tempo da acção. Servindo-se dos personagens, com os quais facilmente o leitor cria um vinculo empático, dá-nos uma visão em primeira mão dos acontecimentos históricos que levaram à ascensão do nazismo e, posteriormente, à II Guerra Mundial. Apesar de ser quase impossível, ainda que num livro tão extenso, colocar todos os acontecimentos marcantes, Follett brinda-nos com um retrato pormenorizado dos mais importantes. É exímio nesta sua tarefa, entrelaçando o espaço físico mas nunca se desviando da simples linha cronológica traçada, o que faz com que o leitor compreenda na perfeição o encadear dos acontecimentos e as suas implicações em futuras acções.

Por serem acontecimentos não muito distantes é com angustia que o leitor, apesar de já saber de antemão o desfecho, acompanha as personagens no seu sofrimento e nas suas provações. Parece impossível que algo de tão vil possa ter tido lugar há tão pouco tempo. A perplexidade aumenta gradualmente quando reflectimos no retrato social apresentado. A forma (muito diferente da realidade actual, na maioria dos casos) como a política influenciava a cultura, as vivências e o pensamento das populações de determinados países; a vida social do antes e do pós-guerra; as dificuldades enfrentadas pelas populações dos países ocupados e destruídos por uma guerra que era desejada por poucos; o espírito de sacrifício de nações inteiras... As diferenças, não só com os dias de hoje, mas entre os vários intervenientes na narrativa são abismais e apontadas de forma soberba. Mais uma vez, mais que um narrar de acontecimentos bélicos e um explicar de conceitos e da conjuntura geopolítica e estratégia que levou a uma das maiores atrocidades do nosso tempo, esta é uma história de gente e daquilo a que o ser humano se predispõe em épocas de crise e conflito, encontrando em si forças que desconhece. Um magnificamente realista retrato social e humano do mundo durante a II Grande Guerra.
Recomendadíssimo.(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 Terri Jacobson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, jewish-themed, gr-choice-awards-challenge-2013

A sweeping historical novel, book 2 of the Century Trilogy. This book covers the build-up to World War II and the immediate aftermath. The novel continues to follow the 5 inter-related families--American, English, German, Russian, and Welsh. I found the book to be fascinating, a real treat to read. The story is fast-pace and exciting, with great characters and terrific plot development. I liked this book much more than the first volume of the trilogy (Fall of Giants).

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Sep 22, 2012 Vanessa Genovese rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bellissimo libro, interessante, avvincente, dal ritmo veloce, mai noioso...sfondo storico perfetto e grandi personaggi. Il mio personaggio preferito è Lloyd Williams, il figlio coraggioso e di successo della bella Ethel, uno dei personaggi fondamentali in La caduta dei giganti. Bellissima anche l'evoluzione del personaggio di Daisy Peskov, la quale da ragazzina viziata che desidera solo raggiungere la rispettabilità e vivere nell'alta società, diventa una donna matura e coraggiosa che lotta per...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are reasons why Ken Follett is one of my favorites, if not THE favorites and Winter of the World is another shining example of why.

WOW picks up ten years after the end of Fall of Giants. While it does have the original cast from the previous installment, it's more about the second generation: their children. It spans the time from the rise of Hitler and his Nazi regime, through the Spanish Revolution, WWII, Pearl Harbor, the advent of the nuclear bomb, the subsequent bombing of Japan and e...more There are reasons why Ken Follett is one of my favorites, if not THE favorites and Winter of the World is another shining example of why.

WOW picks up ten years after the end of Fall of Giants. While it does have the original cast from the previous installment, it's more about the second generation: their children. It spans the time from the rise of Hitler and his Nazi regime, through the Spanish Revolution, WWII, Pearl Harbor, the advent of the nuclear bomb, the subsequent bombing of Japan and ends in the 50s.

While its well researched and equally well told, it wouldn't be anything more than a history book if it weren't for a diverse and nicely constructed cast. Winter of the World has that in spades. While putting his characters through all kinds of world changing and hellish scenarios, Follett never diverges away from interpersonal drama, relationships and subplots. What he puts his characters through runs the gamut from the uplifting to the downright terrifying. Loves are won and lost, families are born, battles are fought, atrocities are lived through and overcome. Each and every character is well fleshed out and reacts logically. Using a combination of personal motives and moral codes, Follett's characters react to the real world and historical events he's made them a part of in a believable and logical way. They react to what's going on around them and make their decisions based on their beliefs and the state of the world around them. Nobody puts fictional characters into true events like Ken Follett. *As an aside, my favorite characters and story lines center around Lloyd, Carla, Woody and Daisy.*

It's an amazing accomplishment that, for the second time, he's interspersed the real and the fictional into such a broad sweeping and well written work. I don't know how he does it but he does.

I've read many of the previous reviews and see the low average rating. As it turns out, many of the one and two star reviews are from people complaining about the price...even BEFORE the book was released. Rating a book solely based on the price before ever even reading it is, in my humble opinion, silly, uninformative and unfair to the author. If it's too costly, go to a library. If if wasn't to your liking AFTER having read it, then base the review on that. Complaining about price is a waste of everybody's time.

But I digress.

Winter Of The World is a fine example of why I love Ken Follett's books and, more importantly, why I love to read. You just can't help but get swept up in the characters and the time periods he writes about. Fantastic. (less)

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Apr 20, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Devo ringraziare Ken Follett per la sua capacità di farmi leggere libri da 900 pagine e più in pochissimo tempo. Gira e rigira i romanzi storici trattano sempre gli stessi temi: amori, guerre, violenze, tradimenti... Ciò che amo di più è il modo che ha di intrecciare le vicende dei tantissimi personaggi che intervengono, a mio avviso senza mai essere pesante.
So che molti lo criticano e affermano che non scrive veri romanzi storici, però io apprezzo che non si limiti a fare solo un elenco di dat...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Anirban rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, historical-mystery, political-spy-thriller

“....we have to fight the Communists just as hard as the Fascists. They’re both evil”

The first book of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follet, dealt with the first world war, and the events surrounding it. This book starts in the year 1933, leads up to the Second World War, finishing off in the year 1949. The events like the first book, is spread over the two continents on the either side of the Atlantic.
The book is a fast read. The prospect of reading 900 odd pages, though daunting at first, seems e...more “....we have to fight the Communists just as hard as the Fascists. They’re both evil”

The first book of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follet, dealt with the first world war, and the events surrounding it. This book starts in the year 1933, leads up to the Second World War, finishing off in the year 1949. The events like the first book, is spread over the two continents on the either side of the Atlantic.
The book is a fast read. The prospect of reading 900 odd pages, though daunting at first, seems easy as the pages fly away. The plot just carries from where the last book had left it. In this edition the principle characters of the last book were all there, but the spotlight was shone on their offspring.
The prose also followed the pattern of the last book. Short paragraphs, and a lot of dialogues between the characters. This was one of the best points of the book according to me. Follet had described places, showed events happening all through dialogues. These first person dialogues helped the book in not becoming boring.
Another great aspect of the book was that Follet had been able to keep the interest of the reader alive for all the main characters. There were lots of them, based in different countries. By the end of the book, I was really curious to know what happened to each of them.
But one small glitch according to me was the abundance of CO INCIDENCES. The book was full of them. Agreed, that the book wouldn’t have been as fast and as unputdownable, if those chance encounters between the characters weren’t there. But still at times, when, almost every character was bumping into another character that happened to know him or her, the phrase “ITS A SMALL WORLD” seemed clichéd.
Lastly, the book showed us, the ones who were born long after the war, the brutality of the war. Reading the book, I felt so sad, thinking actually what people had to go through in those times. The brutality of Nazism, the madness of Communism, and the bloodlust of the War, made every other thing in the book pale in its comparison. There were little or no mention of the concentration camps, but one major event, which we seldom read about, was portrayed in the book. Action T4, the Nazi plan to kill anyone who is “unproductive” in the fatherland was given a lot of attention in the book.

P.S. Ken Follet is one of my favourite authors of all times. I have a unwritten doctrine of not reading anything but thrillers. But, when Follet brings out a novel. I slowly move away from my doctrine, grab his book and start reading. Because, I am always sure of being entertained, and he never fails me.(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Ware rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is a danger of social and political historical fiction like the Century Trilogy. People already have a connection to the events and a sloppy author can simply trade on that knowledge to hold a reader's interest without allowing the reader to uncover something new.Historical fiction is often centered outside the experiences of the reader. When Gone with the Wind, hit the best sellers list in 1936, there were both living veterans of the Civil War and many children of those veterans. GWTW rei...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Bobbi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An easy read. Sometimes the character sketching is a little light, and the sex scenes feel perfunctory after about the fifth one. (Now character A and character B will consummate their love. Guess how?) That said, the history in this book and its predecessor rings true, and Follett moves the characters convincingly around his massive chess board (the developed world) to get them in place (Zelig-like) for key glimpses of Germany in 1933 or England during the Blitz or Hawaii in 1941 and Normandy i...more An easy read. Sometimes the character sketching is a little light, and the sex scenes feel perfunctory after about the fifth one. (Now character A and character B will consummate their love. Guess how?) That said, the history in this book and its predecessor rings true, and Follett moves the characters convincingly around his massive chess board (the developed world) to get them in place (Zelig-like) for key glimpses of Germany in 1933 or England during the Blitz or Hawaii in 1941 and Normandy in 1944 etc.

He manages to not let this tangled web fall apart or seem false, covering all the archetypes and significant developments you'd expect. There's a spy in Berlin gathering intelligence for the Red Army; a cruel Gestapo fellow, once a nobody, who terrorizes his fellow Germans; a Bolshevik true believer; a brave British soldier assisting he French Resistance; misguided Nazi troops; Fascists, Social Democrats, Communists(all in different national flavors, a feat in itself). The book doesn't focus on the leaders, but the effects on regular people of their decisions. Still we get a taste of who they are, FDR, Churchill, Stalin.

Follett don't spend time in the concentration camps, apparently deciding that's for other books. But we do get a close up look inside Berlin during the war years. The characters are Gentiles and one Jewish family. All are greatly affected. (No spoilers here.)

I enjoyed the espionage and battlefield narratives. Some are incredibly tense and suspenseful. Follett captures the dangers very well, and gives us a lot of details that mesh with known history, but he doesn't get hung up on a macho homage to battle. I appreciate that he included the Pacific Theater, where my own father fought.

In answer to your question, yes, this is history light, with fictional characters pulling the narrative. But it's not inaccurate history. In fact, I found the fictional storyline to further illuminate the time, which is of course what Follett intends. He loves throwing in details about the cars of the time, for instance. (More about fashion, Follett!) So this is not The Third Reich, or some other major tome. But it's a breeze to read! And that's just not a bad thing. (less)

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Mar 20, 2013 Steven Langdon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ken Follett has produced another 940 pages of history and melodrama, combined in another epic novel of families intersecting in the context of major world conflicts -- this time with a focus on the Great Depression, World War Two and the launch of the Cold War. Follett worked his magic beautifully in "The Pillars of the Earth," his two-volume pageant around the building of a medieval cathedral -- I found that work remarkably fine in its characterization and its historical and cultural depth. Sim...more Ken Follett has produced another 940 pages of history and melodrama, combined in another epic novel of families intersecting in the context of major world conflicts -- this time with a focus on the Great Depression, World War Two and the launch of the Cold War. Follett worked his magic beautifully in "The Pillars of the Earth," his two-volume pageant around the building of a medieval cathedral -- I found that work remarkably fine in its characterization and its historical and cultural depth. Similarly, the first novel in this new trilogy, "Fall of Giants," worked very well in probing the social dimensions of the rise of communism in Russia, the roots of social democracy in Britain, and the hard-edged capitalism of 1920's America.

This novel carries forward the stories of those families highlighted in "Fall of Giants." There is Lev Peshkov, the Russian immigrant to the mid-western US, one of whose sons becomes involved in the development of the atom bomb, while his daughter moves to England and connects with the Fitzherbert and Williams families. And there is Grigori Peshkov and his family whose history is traced in the Soviet Union. These family ties are then mingled with the Von Ulrich's in Germany and with another political family, the Dewar's, in the US.

These are families that worked effectively as fictional figures in "Fall of Giants" because their diverse roots were so varied, and their eventual interaction could be seen as a result of historical accident. But in "Winter of the World" the families are already givens from the first volume, and the interconnections that develop sometimes feel too forced. Plus their personal lives are used rather too bluntly to tie the book to specific historical events that Follett wishes to highlight (such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, where several of the family figures happen to be, quite arbitrarily it seems.)

Perhaps the major difficulty with this book, compared to Follett's other successes, is that the events reviewed are quite familiar from their treatment in many other works. World War Two, the Spanish Civil War, the Great Depression, the development of the atom bomb, the genesis of the Cold War -- all these are subjects of extensive writing, both fictional and non-fiction. Follett consequently provides fewer fresh insights than I felt he did in his earlier historical novels. It would have been more interesting if the author had focused on certain less obvious actions in tracing his families through this period -- perhaps the coming of the Health Service to Britain, maybe the conflict in Ethiopia (rather than Spain,) possibly the rise of the CIO unions in the US and their impact on income distribution. Such a less predictable lens might have made this novel more stimulating.

Ken Follett is an excellent writer, and he has an ability to make characters interesting. So this is certainly a book worth reading. But I did not find it as fascinating a read as I expected! (less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the second book in Ken Follett's historical Century Trilogy. It picks up right where the first book left off, updating us on the 5 families he introduced us to in the first book. You must read these in order, so start with Fall of Giants, if you are new to this series. Ken Follett does a masterful job of making his characters interesting, and you will find yourself rooting for them all. As the world begins a downward spiral towards the awful beginnings of World War two, we are treated to...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Janet Tolle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was able to plow through "Winter of the World" during my vacation and read it in less than two weeks. Had I read it my usual way, a few chapters a night, over a much lengthier period, I might have lost my way. There are probably 15 major characters and 50 more side characters. Thankfully, I enjoyed the book's next generation of characters (this is part 2 of 3) with a good understanding of their relationships and the epic events of their lives. The characters are very engaging and interesting....more

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Mar 02, 2013 Legens rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pros:
- Sometimes, the book really has suspense.
- The chapters set in the Spanish Civil War capture all of the tragedy of that conflict.

Cons:
- Follett seems to be unable to develop a balanced relationship to his German characters. Whereas the Germans in his earlier World War II thrillers were all cruel Nazi killers, without any exception, there are a lot of German resistance fighters and dissidents in this. I don't want to downplay the German resistance to the Nazis, but it was very, very occasio...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Peterspepper rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm more of a review reader than a review writer here on GoodReads. However, I felt moved to say a few words regarding the quality, or lack thereof, pertinent to Ken Follett's Winter of the World.

I've read two previous books by Ken Follett, the cathedral building series (Pillars of the Earth and ???). I enjoyed them both. So, I decided to pick up Winter of the World (book two in the latest series) because I'm a huge fan of anything historical concerning WWII. And typically, historical fiction i...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a fan of Ken Follett's previous books (Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and, to an extent, Fall of Giants) but I really didn't enjoy this book. I felt like he "phoned it in" or rushed to get it out quickly, which was disappointing.

My main problems with the novel were: 1) unrealistic dialogue 2) extremely predictable plot points 3) characters you don't really care about (although I did have a warm spot for Daisy) and 4) lack of nuance/complexity in characters.

However, I did think...more I was a fan of Ken Follett's previous books (Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and, to an extent, Fall of Giants) but I really didn't enjoy this book. I felt like he "phoned it in" or rushed to get it out quickly, which was disappointing.

My main problems with the novel were: 1) unrealistic dialogue 2) extremely predictable plot points 3) characters you don't really care about (although I did have a warm spot for Daisy) and 4) lack of nuance/complexity in characters.

However, I did think Follett did a commendable job at somehow packaging the main events of 20 years into a compelling, readable fiction. Not only does he address the obvious historical events of World War II, but he also shed light on the Spanish Civil War and the Manhattan Project, which was interesting and informative. I read criticism that he glosses over the Depression, the Stalinist purges of the '30s, and the Holocaust, and he certainly does, but I did like that he looks at the treatment of people with disabilities in Nazi Germany. You don't really come across that in many books about World War II-era Germany, and it was horrific and sickening and, I think, very important for us to never forget.

Another critique of this book on GoodReads said that Follett is not a good writer, but a master storyteller, and I agree. I thought his writing was atrocious in parts, eyeroll-worthy in others, and I frequently flipped through five or six pages at a time, not bothering to read them because it was so obvious what was going to happen it was boring, but at the same time...I DID keep reading, all 900+ pages, so that tells you something. You still want to find out what happens at the end, even if it's hard to summon up the energy to care about Greg Peshkov or even Woody Dewar, who I'm sure is a great guy and all, but is not terribly interesting nor three-dimensional. Maybe Follett's arena - the 20th century and families from Germany, England, Wales, America, and Russia - is just too broad and ambitious, yet I've read generational stories that span countries or years that have been done to great success (Aksyonov's Generations of Winter,John Jakes' North and South.

Also - the sex stuff IS a little much, and I'm by no means a prude when it comes to sex scenes in literature. But honestly, Follett writes about it way too much, to the point where I think that's why the characters come off as so flat and two-dimensional. And the sex scenes are ludicrously written. One of them contained something about how a character "squirted" all over this girl and the description was so disgusting and infantile I said "ew" out loud while reading. Look, I'm sure sex scenes are hard to write but Follett's just came across as something a barely pubescent boy would write.

Will I read the third book of the trilogy? Maybe. I won't rush out to buy it. I'd wait until it's out in paperback and get it at the library for a beach read.(less)

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Feb 13, 2013 Claire rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the second in Follett’s historical fiction “Century Trilogy”. The first took us through the First World War, this is about the Second World War, and presumably the next will take us until the end of the century. I am not sure if I will read the third book. I would be lying if I did not say that I was disappointed by this book. I loved The Pillars of the Earth, and was hoping this would be as good. With hindsight, this could never have been as good as that. In 940 heavy pages Follett has...more This is the second in Follett’s historical fiction “Century Trilogy”. The first took us through the First World War, this is about the Second World War, and presumably the next will take us until the end of the century. I am not sure if I will read the third book. I would be lying if I did not say that I was disappointed by this book. I loved The Pillars of the Earth, and was hoping this would be as good. With hindsight, this could never have been as good as that. In 940 heavy pages Follett has tried to tell the story of the single biggest event that has happened to the world in living memory from the perspective of four nations. It stands to reason that he would not be able to handle the characters as well or tell the story with such depth.

As always, with Ken Follett’s historical fiction, I did learn quite a lot. I learnt a bit more about what Churchill may have been truly like. In particular, I knew very little of the American involvement in the Second World War. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour and the Battle of Midway the world realised that the Pacific war would be won by planes launched from aircraft-carrying ships. In the year or so that followed Japan produced seven of these huge, costly vessels, and the US produced ninety. This could have been the beginning of the US deciding it ought to be the World Police. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could not have helped.

This book picks up where the last one left off. We being with the main characters from the last book, all grown up and their children almost grown. Europe is heading down a slippery slope to war as the story gets going. The book is well-researched, and it’s a good introduction to World War II history. There are a couple of families in the US, one in Russia, a couple in Germany, and a working class and an upper class family in Britain.

In order to tell the story in as thorough manner as possible, and presumably to keep the cast of characters to an easy-to-follow number, Follett invents the most ridiculous and, at times, cringe-worthy coincidences. For example; back in Russia in the ’20s, a princess’ father ordered the death of a boy who grew up to move to America, whose daughter moves to England and there they both meet that princess as an adult, who is soon to become the mother-in-law of the American girl. The Russian man lets it be known that he remembers the princess from 20 years ago, but nobody mentions the gazillion-to-one chance of them bumping in to each other again, let alone becoming family.

It is a very small world in Follett’s imagination, and his characters are present at every major event in the War, if not responsible for quite a lot of world-changing decisions. For example, persuading the US president to go to war, inventing the League of Nations, witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbour (one character does all these things) and providing the intelligence to create an atomic bomb. A friend warned me of this in advance of reading the book, so I had decided not to let it annoy me, after all, he had to do it to tell the story. He uses his small cast of German characters to show us Nazi persecution of the disabled, homosexual and Jewish, and anyone who gets in their way. His characters are all very busy during the war, and heavily involved in just about every major part of it. But, really, I think Follet could have just decided not to tell this story, he ought to have realised that it was too big to tell to an intelligent adult audience. Maybe he should have just picked one country and told a very good story, rather than doing this and telling a very big story.

click here to read the rest of my reviews (less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Scott Vanzandt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ken Follett here follows up his number-one New York Times best-seller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, pause-resistant epic about the heroism and honor of World War II and the dawn of the atomic age.

Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as "sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks" (USA Today) and "grippingly told and readable to the end" (The New York Times Book Re...more Ken Follett here follows up his number-one New York Times best-seller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, pause-resistant epic about the heroism and honor of World War II and the dawn of the atomic age.

Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as "sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks" (USA Today) and "grippingly told and readable to the end" (The New York Times Book Review). "If the next two volumes are as lively and entertaining as Fall of Giants," said The Washington Post, "they should be well worth waiting for."

Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, Welsh - enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.

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

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century. From the drawing rooms of the rich to the blood and smoke of battle, their lives intertwine, propelling the reader into dramas of ever-increasing complexity.

As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. With passion and the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

©2012 Ken Follett (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

Definitely read Fall of Giants First. This is Book 2 and you need the first book or you just have to go back and read it later.

I read alomost everything Follet does ever since I read and saw Eye of the Needle in the 80's(less)

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Jan 20, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-set-in-england, books-set-in-germany, books-set-in-dc, books-set-in-russia, fiction, historical-fiction

I listened to this book, rather than reading it in paper, because it was the least expensive way for me to get it immediately after finishing Fall of Giants. I'm a sucker for these sweeping saga types of book and my only regret is that now I have to wait for the next in the trilogy to be published. The reader did an excellent job with the many accents needed for this tale which follows members of five families (Welsh, English, German, Russian and American) with various connections to each other...more

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About Ken Follett

Ken Follett burst onto the book world in 1978 with Eye of the Needle, a taut and original thriller with a memorable woman character in the central role. The book won the Edgar award and became an outstanding film.

He went on to write four more bestselling thrillers: Triple; The Key to Rebecca; The Man from St Petersburg; and Lie Down with Lions.

He also wrote On Wings of Eagles, the true story of ho...more

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Books by Ken Follett

The Pillars of the Earth (The Pillars of the Earth, #1)

World Without End (The Pillars of the Earth, #2)

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“Why do you have to be the same as the others? ...Most of them are stupid.” — 14 people liked it

“Why was it, Lloyd wondered, that the people who wanted to destroy everything good about their country were the quickest to wave the national flag?” — 11 people liked it

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Winter of the World (The Century Trilogy #2)

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