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Fall of Giants
- Century Trilogy, Book 1
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 36 mins
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Fall of Giants
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Publisher's Summary
The first in Ken Follett's breathtaking Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants is a captivating novel that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women.
A World in Chaos
1911, a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy Williams, begins working down the mines as George V is crowned king. The escalating arms race between the empire nations will put not only the king but this young boy in grave danger.
A Terrible War
Billy’s family is inextricably linked with the Fitzherberts, the aristocratic owners of the coal mine where he works. And when Maud Fitzherbert falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London, their destiny also becomes entangled with that of Gus Dewar, an ambitious young aide to Woodrow Wilson, and two orphaned Russian brothers whose plan to emigrate to America falls foul of conscription, revolution and imminent war.
A Revolution That Will Change Everything
When Russia convulses in bloody revolution and the Great War unfolds, the five families’ futures are entwined forever, love bringing them closer even as conflict takes them further apart. What seeds will be sown for further tragedy in the twentieth century and what role will each play in what is to come?
Continue the captivating Century Trilogy with Winter of the World and Edge of Eternity.
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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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 18-02-2014
A gripping and unmissable historical fiction!
If you could sum up Fall of Giants in three words, what would they be?
History made interesting.
What did you like best about this story?
Ken Folletts characters, while sometimes cliched, are always interesting, and always masterfully interwoven.
Any additional comments?
I listened to this audio book after reading a hard copy (and loving it), to improve my knowledge of early 20th century history. Whilst I recognise that it is a history of interpretation by Mr Folletts, he nevertheless covers all of the most important events before, during and after the First World War, with great accuracy. This history, so often told in dry and difficult style in non fiction works, becomes alive when told through the lives of a number of interwoven fictional characters from different countries. The narrator, John Lee does an excellent job of dealing with many different accents and really made the book come alive for me. I loved it even more as an audio book. Highly recommended.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amy
- 29-11-2016
Wonderful!
This book is amazing, do not be intimidated by it's length. Ken Follett captivated me captivated again, just like with Pillars of the Earth (if you haven't read that btw, it's brilliant and a must). It is also based very strictly on historical fact, which I find to be fantastic and fascinating. I've been recommending this book to anyone who will listen.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 29-09-2021
Outstanding
I couldn’t put it down. I am looking forward to book 2 now. The fictional characters seamlessly infused with historical events , making an unforgettable story.
The narrator is just a joy to listen to also.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-02-2021
A great 5 star story very well read.
Wow. These are the best stories written and narrated in a way that invited and allowed me to be a close observer. Great crafting of the truth and the likely.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-08-2021
fantastic read
a great book that is well researched, written and uses both fictional and real life characters to tell a story which educates people thought an important time in our history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel
- 19-09-2016
Great story in facinating setting
Loved the historical, social, political and military seeing if the book. The story was easy to follow and hard to walk away from. On part with Follet's Pillars of the Earth.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paddington
- 26-07-2017
Spellbinding
What a great read. An interesting mix of historical and family relationships in this amazing saga. It opened up the world of mining in northern Wales for me to appreciate how demanding and unforgiving life was for those working class families. Can't wait to listen to the remaining 2 books in this trilogy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- AmazonPete
- 26-08-2019
Entertaining historical fiction
In the first of a trilogy, the prelude to World War I, deciding factors and battles, and the aftermath, seen through the intimately portrayed and intertwining lives of people across the Western world. John Lee's performance is brilliant, convincingly portraying a range of accents and attitudes. Although the plot twists are like soap opera, Ken Follett's larger picture shows how social change and economy intertwine in history, and the soap washes clean the view to bring out class antagonisms. I loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amelia
- 10-05-2017
Bloody amazing!
Truly fabulous! Characters. Plot. Detail. Follett creates a world you can almost feel! From start to finish an excellent book!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aunty K
- 27-05-2020
Ripping yarn!
Ken Follett weaves these magical tales. Entrancing to listen to!
I was disappointed in the quality of this download. Was it my wifi or a random effect but the audio skipped and jumped whether I was listening on headphones, on bluetooth the car or out loud.
It diminished the powerful story-line.
That said, I can't wait to listen to the next part of this trilogy.
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