The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett

15 June 2023
9781035020157
1104 pages

Synopsis

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, The Pillars of the Earth is Ken Follett's classic historical masterpiece.

A MASON WITH A DREAM

1135 and civil war, famine and religious strife abound. With his family on the verge of starvation, mason Tom Builder dreams of the day that he can use his talents to create and build a cathedral like no other.

A MONK WITH A BURNING MISSION

Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, is resourceful, but with money scarce he knows that for his town to survive it must find a way to thrive, and so he makes the decision to build within it the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

A WORLD OF HIGH IDEALS AND SAVAGE CRUELTY

As Tom and Philip meet so begins an epic tale of ambition, anarchy and absolute power. In a world beset by strife and enemies that would thwart their plans, they will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions in a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother . . .

The Pillars of the Earth is the first in The Kingsbridge Novels series, followed by World Without End and A Column of Fire.

More than 175 million copies sold worldwide. Published in over eighty territories and thirty-seven languages. The international No. 1 bestselling phenomenon returns.

A highly enjoyable tale . . . this book evokes its period brilliantly
A historical saga of such breadth and density . . . Follett succeeds brilliantly in combining hugeness and detail to create a novel imbued with the rawness, violence and blind faith of the era
Enormous and brilliant . . . this mammoth tale seems to touch all human emotion - love and hate, loyalty and treachery, hope and despair. This is truly a novel to get lost in