Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy #1) [B0812]

2011 PB in nice clean condition. 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. . . .

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I truly think that Ken is the greatest historical fiction writer of all time."; "Epic! world war I, Russian revolution, Earls and miners- this book has everything. Very politics and war strategy heavy."; "It's finally time to read the Century Trilogy and this opener does not disappoint. I've read the Kingsbridge series, and a couple of Follett's standalone thrillers so I was expecting this book to follow the formula of good guys v. bad guys, but for the first time ever - These characters felt REAL. Don't get me wrong, the formula is still there, but they go so much deeper, you understand their motives, trials and tribulations. Which I think is an actual reflection of the start of WWI itself. No country was wholly bad or wholly righteous, they simply entered the war with the mindset of 19th century tactics in a world of 20th century weapons. You'll find yourself rooting for these fictional heroes living in a real hell."