On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed. As adults, their lives will be braided together by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day. Ken Follett's masterful epic The Pillars of the Earth enchanted millions of readers with its compelling drama of war, passion and family conflict set around the building of a cathedral. Now World Without End takes readers back to medieval Kingsbridge two centuries later, as the men, women and children of the city once again grapple with the devastating sweep of historical change.
About the Author
Ken Follett was twenty-seven when he wrote Eye of the Needle, an award-winning thriller that became an international bestseller. After writing more successful thrillers he surprised everyone with The Pillars of the Earth, about the building of a cathedral in the Middle Ages, which continues to captivate millions of readers all over the world. World Without End was the long-awaited sequel, a number one bestseller in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. His most recent novels are Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, the first two book in the epic Century trilogy, which will be completed with Edge of Eternity in autumn 2014.
About the Kingsbridge Novels
The Kingsbridge series is a richly detailed and wholly absorbing journey into the past. Each book takes readers to the fictional town of Kingsbridge and introduces a massive and colourful cast of characters - both fictional and based on real historical figures.
The first book, Pillars of the Earth, is set in the 12th century during The Anarchy and is a thumping great epic involving everything from murder, mystery, betrayal, deceit and star-crossed love through to civil war, political intrigue, religious conflict and family drama - all focused around the the construction of a grand Cathedral.
We return to Kingsbridge in the 14th century for World Without End and again in the 16th century with the latest instalment, Column of Fire. Each time we return we meet the descendants of characters we have known and loved, living in the shadow of the great Cathedral we saw built in Pillars of the Earth. With each book we get a wonderfully detailed snapshot of history, thrumming with passion and drama, giving readers to a stunning glimpse into an age long since passed.
