Winter of the World

The Century Trilogy, Book 2

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Picking up where Fall of Giants, the first novel in the extraordinary Century Trilogy, left off, Winter of the World follows its five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - through a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the great dramas of World War II, and into the beginning of the long Cold War.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until daring to commit a deed of great courage and heartbreak...

American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific...

English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight communism just as hard as fascism...

Daisy Peshkov, a driven social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set until war transforms her life, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war but also the war to come.

©2012 Ken Follett (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Gripping....powerful." (The New York Times)

"[Follett] is so good at plotting a story, even one that takes on such a complex topic such as the World War II era. That's what makes Winter of the World so hard to put down. You want to know what happens next." (The Associated Press)

"A consistently compelling portrait of a world in crisis." (The Washington Post)

Epic, Remarkable, Easy & Enjoyable!

The wonder of this book is that most of us intimately understand the subject matter, and Follet does a wonderful job of creating the emotion and devastation associated with this tumultuous era in World History.

He seamlessly weaves the characters together in a believable and dignified way. The comparisons of cultures and the representative actors is achieved in a subtle and believable manner. I could not be more impressed with his point of view on what it would have been like to witness some of the 20th Century's most notable events.

I highly recommend this book, as it is exactly what an audio book should be: entertaining, representative of a unique point of view, and enjoyable!

Does anyone do it better than Follett?

For this fan of Fall of Giants there was nothing better than hearing John Lee pick up where my favorite players in Europe, Russia and America left off. Winter of the World covers the period leading up to and the resolution of WWII. It is not necessary to read the series launch, Fall of Giants (I do highly recommend that book on its own merit).

This was maybe even more enjoyable then the first book as I had a better grasp of the history shaping the lives of the characters. Once again Follet spoils his reader with fascinating historical detail and context. My only complaint is how Follet contrives to interweave these families and puts someone at almost every import event in the time period. 31 hours wouldn’t suffer from a new character or two.
Historical fiction fans should not miss this one.

John Lee is perfection. His heavily accented reads are a treat for the ears.

Great Story - Awful Narration

The book itself is wonderful. Ken Follett is an extremely powerful storyteller. The characters are engaging and likable.
The narrator completely lost me when his English accents started to sound Indian. German accents were at times difficult to understand as well. It was almost embarrassing.
Overall it was a pretty good audio book. Just wish the narrator had not been so distracting.

No let down here. This is another great Follett!

As with the first installment, the mingling of history with his fiction is masterful. I loved viewing the war years from the lens of each family and their respective countries.

I find his historical work accurate while intimate, particularly with his rendition of Nazi Germany. I wish he would have delved more into the politics involved in the US' reluctantly to enter the war, but that by no means is meant as a criticism.

Follett's works always feature sexually aggressive women. I am no prude, but I do believe he is revealing his own fantasy or perhaps his belief, particularly in periodic novels.

Solid, but nothing like Herman Wouk/Kevin Periseau

Winter of the World explores the events leading up to/during WWII using perspectives from characters representing the main players (U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., and Germany). Follett clearly did a lot of research and even teases out some of the less-popularly-explored parts of the War (for example: the Battle of Cable Street, an East End protest against a British Union of Fascists march in 1936). The storylines are good--some of the torture scenes are (I think unnecessarily) graphic, and there are a few too many gratuitous sex scenes for my taste. The way the characters' stories intertwine is perhaps a bit predictable, but I suppose that is how epic drama genres generally work.

In the end, though, I think the main reason I was even drawn to this book because I miss so much Herman Wouk's The Winds of War/War and Remembrance. Where Wouk's characters were deeply developed, Follett's seem contrived. Wouk's writing, though just as gripping (perhaps even more so, because of the wonderful characters), is not sensational or trite in the way that Follett's can be. John Lee, though certainly a good and well-respected reader, has nothing on Kevin Periseau: when one has had the experience of listening to Periseau's remarkable character studies and even singing, Lee's narration (though good) seems a little empty.

Laden with Political Soapboxing

The book is almost a Socialist propaganda piece. All the characters "saving the world" are left wing socialist. All the narrow minded selfish characters destroying democracy are conservative right wing supporters. If you can get past these dogmatic and heavily biases political undertones, it is a great story, well written and informative.

Extreamly enjoyable!!!

Even though I have read other books of this era --- THIS ONE MADE THE ERA COME TO LIFE IN A PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE! The reader was great.

The book is well worth a listen!

Once again John Lee destroyed it.

Would you consider the audio edition of Winter of the World to be better than the print version?

The print version would be better because John Lee would not be part of it.

How could the performance have been better?

John Lee should have given it up after "Pillars of the Earth". Everything he reads sounds the same. Several times I thought I was listening to Pillars again. Sorry but the reader killed this on for me.

Ken Follett never disappoints

my favorite book is the one that entertains me as well as teaches me. This book accomplished both at the highest level. I learned so many things about world war II .. it is absolutely worth listening from a historical perspective alone.

Excellent. Great perspectives from the European nationals as well as Americans.

Excellent story. After the first, I couldn't wait to begin this one. Such great perspectives that you usually don't get. On to the third!