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Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
Fall of Giants is Ken Follett's magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits…. Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House…. Two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution…. Billy's sister, Ethel, 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 Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London….
These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, 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. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.
In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the 20th century, changing themselves—and the century itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.
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Riveting historical fiction
- By Thomas P. O'Connor on 04-14-21
By: Ken Follett
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Triple
- A Novel
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Raza Jaffrey
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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As Egypt comes closer and closer to developing a nuclear bomb, the Mossad’s number one Israeli agent is given an impossible mission: to beat the Arabs in the nuclear arms race by finding and stealing two hundred tons of uranium. The world’s balance of power will shift. And the Mossad, the KGB, the Egyptians, and Fedayeen terrorists will play out the final, violent moves in this devastating game where the price of failure is a nuclear holocaust....
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Triple poorly performed
- By Jpop on 03-13-21
By: Ken Follett
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Hornet Flight
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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It's June 1941, and the low point of the war. England throws wave after wave of RAF bombers across the Channel, but somehow the Luftwaffe is able to shoot them down at will. The skies, indeed, the war itself seem to belong to Hitler.
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An Outstanding Spy Novel
- By C. McCoy on 03-13-05
By: Ken Follett
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Code to Zero
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
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A man wakes to find himself lying on the ground in a railway station. He does not remember how he got there. He has forgotten where he lives. He cannot even remember his own name.
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Code to Zero
- By William on 05-14-05
By: Ken Follett
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Whiteout
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A missing canister of a deadly virus. A lab technician bleeding from the eyes. Toni Gallo, the security director of a Scottish medical research firm, knows she has problems, but she has no idea of the nightmare to come. As a Christmas Eve blizzard whips out of the north, several people, Toni among them, converge on a remote family house. All have something to gain or lose from the drug developed to fight the virus. As the storm worsens, the emotional sparks—jealousies, distrust, sexual attraction, rivalries—crackle; desperate secrets are revealed; hidden traitors and unexpected heroes emerge.
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Ken Follett goes Danielle Steeel
- By B. W. Larsen on 01-27-05
By: Ken Follett
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Lie Down with Lions
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Eric Lincoln, Lary Bradenburg, Donald Brearley, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Ellis, the American. Jean-Pierre, the Frenchman.... They were two men on opposite sides of the cold war, with a woman torn between them. Together, they formed a triangle of passion and deception, racing from terrorist bombs in Paris to the violence and intrigue of Afghanistan - and on to the moment of truth and a deadly decision for all of them.
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makes me want my money back
- By tannk on 09-30-08
By: Ken Follett
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The Third Twin
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
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The study of twins and the genetics of aggression totally consumes research scientist Jeannie Ferrami. An accomplished and headstrong researcher, Jeannie has developed a sophisticated software program to identify identical twins reared apart. But Jeannie's breakthrough project is threatened by the appearance of a sudden impossibility - identical twins born weeks apart to different mothers at separate locations.
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Classic 90's Style
- By Empress Karen on 10-06-17
By: Ken Follett
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On Wings of Eagles
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Marcia Hyde, Larry Robinson, Ralph Williams, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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When two of his American employees were held hostage in a heavily guarded prison fortress in Iran, one man took matters into his own hands: American businessman H. Ross Perot. His team consisted of a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of his corporation, hand-picked and trained by a retired Green Beret officer. To free the imprisoned Americans, they would face incalculable odds on a mission that only true heroes would have dared.
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Was the narrator in a hurry?
- By Tammy on 06-19-08
By: Ken Follett
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Ken Follett
- The History of the Thriller at the 92nd Street Y
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Ken Follett
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Original Recording
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Ken Follett uses his gift for storytelling to present a detailed account of the thriller's place in history and literature. Follett is the author of more than a dozen best-selling novels, including Eye of the Needle, The Pillars of the Earth, and Whiteout. He is also president of the Dyslexia Institute, a member of the National Literacy Trust, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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Use as a preamble to Pillars of the Earth
- By Terry on 05-11-08
By: Ken Follett
What listeners say about Fall of Giants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Elizabeth
- 01-29-11
All's Fair in Love and War
It took a little while to get into this one, but once the threads of the stories are established, it kicks into gear and moves with balance and swiftness.
The good things: Great historical touches. Good pacing in the narration, and the reader shows an impressive array of accents and voices.
The bad things: As has been pointed out by critics, some of the dialogue and more emotive descriptions veer towards being trite, cheesy or cringeworthy. The (sometimes silly) injections of erotic content are frequent, so be wary if that's not your bag.
Overall: Once I got hooked into the story it was layered and very enjoyable, and it's an incredibly interesting period of history. From trenches to drawing rooms, it attempts to cover a huge range of political and social issues with human, relatable characters. Quite an accomplishment.
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Overall
- Carla
- 01-24-11
historical and readable
I love how Ken is able to teach you history in such an interesting manner. I learned a lot about the first world war that I had not put together or had forgotten from high school. His characters are interesting and varied. I certainly enjoyed it start to finish
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- S
- 07-08-11
Interesting but not as engaging as Pillars
Ken Follett is an amazing wordsmith! This book is well researched, well written, skillfully narrated and engaging. It is much more about history, however, than the characters contained in the book. The ending is a bit abrupt - almost reads like the author was in the middle of a thought but ended the book anyway. A terrific read, however, and makes me wish I had paid more attention in history classes!
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Overall
- Carl
- 12-16-10
Loved it
I didn't know much about WWI and this book did a great job of explaining what and why it happened - the reason made no sense, but that is the point of the book. It jumped between characters so you had to pay attention and back up occassionally to figure out where you were, but overall I thought the characters were believable and well-defined. I would recommend this to anyone who has loved Pillars of the Earth.
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Overall
- J.D. McPherson
- 03-18-11
Best work since Pillars
I've been a fan of Follett's historical novels since I picked up Pillars of the Earth in 1990 (I've read it 6 times since then). I was spoiled. Even though he's a great storyteller, it was hard to find anything that matched Pillars--until this book. I had never had much interest in cathedrals until I read Pillars. And I had been flippant about WWI until Fall of Giants. It feels like you have lived a fulfilling lifetime when you finish. My only complaint is that Follett loves to litter his works with unnecessarily TMI sex scenes that are hilariously awkwardly written at times. They slow down the pace of the book, and I'm really wondering who wants to read about one of the character's sexual fascination with his wife's birth canal while she's pregnant.
Even with the adolescent Penthouse Letters, it's worth the five stars. The politics and mood of the era are artfully personified. The characters are historical archetypes but get some three-dimensional fleshing out. The unbelievable coincidences of the characters' interminglings are worth suspending disbelief. They help with details of the story and set up layers of dramatic action. It also reads like a Greek tragedy in that we all know what the fate of the characters' children and the world itself will be ten to twenty years later, with minor comments like, "Oh, that will never happen again," evoking spontaneous laughter.
Pillars was Follett's masterpiece--now I hope it was the dry run for the real masterpiece trilogy to come.
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Overall
- Joel
- 12-03-10
Good story
I am almost done, maybe not the best Ken Follett, but still very good. The reader does a good job with the various accents. It is an interesting book, worthwhile getting.
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- Margaret Schwalbach
- 09-13-11
audibookcrazy
It starts out a little slow but the characters that Ken Follet creates always draw you in. And he always has a character I love to hate as well. I like the way he slowly unfolds the story just like they're people who live next door & I'm watching it all unfold. Thanks Ken for another great book.
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- mintie
- 06-13-11
Writer & Narrator, two great talents...
Combine the detailed writing, historical accuracy and great storytelling of Ken Follett with the uncomparable voice talent of John Lee with his impeccable accents, and you have the perfect recipe for an epic audiobook.
Some of the battle descriptions can drone on... but the story is personal and pulls you in to each of the characters lives.
Bottom line is, this is the perfect combination of great writing and fantastic narration.
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Overall
- Ronald
- 11-22-10
Very good book, but doesn't rank with prior epics
I enjoyed this book. I can tell that Ken Follett spent a long time researching the details. I'll bet John Lee enjoyed himself with seven distinct accents to deliver. Winston Churchill sounded like Winston Churchill. This book contained engaging characters and provided a good feel of what life was like for people before, during, and after WW I. My only real criticism is that historical accuracy seems to have gotten in the way of a great story. Compared to his prior epic novels, in "Fall of Giants", the heroes and heroines were less heroic, the villains were less villainous, and the climax was less climactic. It is probably more realistic, but it "only" rates a 4 instead of a 5.
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Overall
- Frank Beaudine
- 11-14-10
Teacher Grades "Fall Of Giants" "A++"
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett is an amazing audio-book. As a teacher of U.S. History and International Affairs, I would recommend this audio-book as a must for students of World Politics. Fall of Giants provides richly developed characters living through the challenging times up to and through World War I from the various perspectives of Russians, Germans, French, English, Americans and Welsh. Never have I read a more appealing, well researched observation of the period. The stories are engrossing, down to earth, and let the reader see events from various national and cultural points of view. Different from any history audio-book, Fall of Giants brings the loves, conflicts, fears, class beliefs all into understanding of the time. This book is a treasure!
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