Ken Follett will surely solidify his reputation as a master of the pop historical epic with “Fall of Giants,” the first installment of a hugely ambitious work in progress called The Century Trilogy.
Weighing in at nearly 1,000 pages and sporting an initial printing of 1 million copies, “Fall of Giants” is, in every way, a big book.
As the series title indicates, it recounts — or begins to recount — the chaotic history of the 20th century. Set against this historical panorama are the intertwined lives of dozens of characters, all of them shaped — and sometimes warped — by the pressures of class, gender, politics and war.
“Fall of Giants” offers pleasures that more than compensate for its lack of literary finesse. Follett may not be Tolstoy, but he knows how to tell a compelling, well-constructed story. Once its basic elements are in place, the narrative acquires a cumulative, deceptively effortless momentum.
Follett is particularly adept at balancing multiple storylines, patiently building a portrait of interconnected lives. And he consistently gets the physical details right.
“Fall of Giants” gains much of its credibility through its precise description of a wide range of settings: the coal mines of Wales; the manor houses of the rich and overprivileged; the factories and hovels of pre-revolutionary Russia; and the bloody squalor of life in the trenches of the Western Front.
Perhaps the major reasons for the novel’s ultimate success are Follett’s comprehensive grasp of the historical record and his ability to integrate research into a colorful, engaging narrative. He’s especially effective in describing the buildup to the war, when all hopes of peaceful resolution gradually faded, when arrogance, patriotic belligerence and monumental shortsightedness paved the way for catastrophes that would dominate the coming decades.
As the novel ends, Germany is struggling with runaway inflation and sinking beneath the demands of the Treaty of Versailles. A new political movement called National Socialism is on the rise, and a fiery young orator named Adolf Hitler is beginning to find his voice.
Much has changed, and much will continue to change. Follett’s recreation of those changes will occupy his next two volumes. If they are as lively and entertaining as “Fall of Giants,” they should be well worth waiting for.
FICTION
Fall of Giants
by Ken Follett, $36
