The Century Trilogy

by Ken Follett 3 books in this series

The Century Trilogy follows five interconnected families from Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States from the years before the First World War to the collapse of Communist rule in Europe. Across three generations, miners, aristocrats, diplomats, political organisers, soldiers and journalists experience public events through marriages, rivalries and divided loyalties.

Fall of Giants moves through the First World War, women’s suffrage and the Russian Revolution; Winter of the World follows the next generation through fascism, the Spanish Civil War, the Holocaust and the Second World War; and Edge of Eternity carries their descendants into the civil-rights movement, the Berlin Wall, Vietnam and the end of the Cold War.

Reading order

Books in this series (3 books)

#1 – Fall of Giants

Ken Follett

In 1911, the lives of five families begin to intersect across Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States. Welsh miner Billy Williams and his politically active sister Ethel confront the power of the Fitzherbert landowning family; Lady Maud Fitzherbert falls in love with German diplomat Walter…

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#2 – Winter of the World

Ken Follett

The children of the families introduced in Fall of Giants come of age during the Great Depression and the destruction of European democracy. In Germany, Carla von Ulrich watches Nazi rule penetrate the courts, schools and home; in Britain, Lloyd Williams becomes involved in anti-fascist politics…

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#3 – Edge of Eternity

Ken Follett

Beginning in 1961, the final volume follows descendants of the five families on both sides of the Iron Curtain. In East Germany, Rebecca Hoffmann discovers the reach of the secret police as the Berlin Wall divides families and careers. In the United States, George Jakes joins…

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