Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy
Rarely has a series captivated me as much as Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy.
The story begins in the years before the First World War. Europe is already tense, old power structures are beginning to crumble, and political decisions threaten to plunge an entire continent into chaos. Amid this charged atmosphere, we first encounter some of the trilogy’s most important characters at a country estate in Wales. At the same time, the estate is visited by the British king, while behind the scenes the conflicts that will soon change the world are already taking shape.
As with many expansive novels, the beginning requires a little patience to distinguish the numerous characters, families and connections. After the first fifty pages at the latest, however, that patience pays off. The characters develop lives of their own, and their personal stories begin to intertwine ever more closely with major historical events.
Follett does not tell history from a distance. He lets us experience it through people from very different social classes and nations. We follow workers and aristocrats, political idealists, soldiers and families whose lives are shaped by decisions far beyond their control. While borders are drawn, governments overthrown and wars begun, the characters also wrestle with deeply personal questions: love or duty, loyalty or conviction, security or freedom.
What is particularly compelling is how their paths repeatedly cross across countries and continents. Chance encounters grow into friendships, love stories and bitter enmities. Some characters face one another on the battlefield, while others meet years later on opposing sides of a political conflict. Historical events therefore never feel like mere background information. They intervene directly in the characters’ lives and transform their families across several generations.
The two following volumes lose none of this tension. On the contrary, the personal connection to the characters and their descendants becomes ever stronger. The second part moves through the rise of National Socialism and the Second World War, while the final volume covers the Cold War, social upheaval and the political conflicts of the second half of the twentieth century.
It is precisely this combination of world history and personal destiny that makes the trilogy so compelling. We may know where the major historical developments are heading, but never what they will mean for each individual character.
Read it if you enjoy historical fiction, political conflict and characters whose lives unfold across generations.