Ken FollettAdult Fiction Kingsbridge Trilogy Book Collection (3 Books)

About

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. 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. The latest instalment, A Column of Fire, opens with young Ned Willard coming home to Kingsbridge at Christmas. The year 1558 will turn Ned’s life upside-down and change Europe for ever.

Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved novelists. His latest book, A Column of Fire – the third novel in his Kingsbridge Series – went straight to the No.1 position on bestseller lists in the USA, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. He burst into 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 starring Kate Nelligan and Donald Sutherland. He went on to write four more best-selling thrillers: Triple; The Key to Rebecca; The Man from St Petersburg; and Lie Down with Lions.

He then surprised readers by radically changing course with The Pillars of the Earth, a novel about building a cathedral in the Middle Ages. Published in September 1989 to rave reviews, it was on The New York Times bestseller list for eighteen weeks. It also reached the No. 1 position on lists in Canada, Great Britain, and Italy, and was on the German bestseller list for six years.

It was voted the third greatest book ever written by 250 000 viewers of the German television station ZDF in 2004, beaten only by The Lord of the Rings and the Bible. When The Times of London asked its readers to vote for the 60 greatest novels of the last 60 years, The Pillars of the Earth was placed at No.2, after To Kill a Mockingbird. (The sequel, World Without End, was No. 23 on the same list.) In November 2007 ‘Pillars’ became the most popular ever choice of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, returning to No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. The miniseries, produced by Ridley Scott and starring Ian McShane and Matthew Macfadyen, was broadcast in 2010.

World Without End, the long-awaited sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, was published in October 2008. It is set in Kingsbridge, the fictional location of the cathedral in Pillars, and features the descendants of the original characters at the time of the Black Death. It was a No. 1 bestseller in Italy, the USA, the UK, Germany, France, and Spain, where it was the fastest-selling book ever published in the Spanish language, outstripping the last Harry Potter book.

Ken's latest novel is the third in the 'Kingsbridge' series, A Column of Fire. Beginning in 1558, it charts the star-crossed romance between Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald, while Europe turns against England when Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen and finds herself beset by plots to dethrone her. It was published in September 2017.

The Pillars of the Earth

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett's classic historical masterpiece. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known . . . of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul ... of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame . . . and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother. 'Enormous and brilliant ... this mammoth tale seems to touch all human emotion - love and hate, loyalty and treachery, hope and despair. This is truly a novel to get lost in' Cosmopolitan 'A historical saga of such breadth and density.

Follett succeeds brilliantly in combining hugeness and detail to create a novel imbued with the rawness, violence and blind faith of the era' -Sunday Express

World Without End

The saga that has enthralled millions of readers, The Kingsbridge Novels continue with World Without End. 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.

Column of Fire

Millions of readers have been enthralled by the saga that began in The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, which now continues with Ken Follett's magnificent, gripping A Column of Fire.

A WORLD IN TURMOIL - 1558, and Europe is in revolt as religious hatred sweeps the continent. Elizabeth Tudor has ascended to the throne, but she is not safe in this dangerous new world. There are many who would see her removed, not least Mary Queens of Scots, who lies in wait in Paris.

A NEW ORDER - Elizabeth determines to set up a new secret service: a group of resourceful spies and courageous agents entrusted to keep her safe and in power. As she searches for those who will make the difference, one man stands out.

A MAN WHO WOULD DIE FOR HIS QUEEN - For Ned Willard, the opportunity to serve his queen is God-sent. He cannot stay in Kingsbridge and watch the love of his life marry another, and as fires burn and extremism begins to spark throughout Europe, Ned makes his choice. He will spend his life protecting his monarch from the tyrants who aim to destroy her or die trying…