We're seeing the world move forward, as witnessed by the current generation. Because Follett isn't interested in telling yet another war story. While Pearl Harbour is a major event, personally affecting several characters, things like D-Day and the European conflict get only passing mentions. In fact, there is minimal depiction of the events we expect to see in stories from this period. And the actual level of support the Nazis had in Britain and America at the time. The way the Western nations let their hatred of Communism prevent them from facing Fascism.

It simply became inevitable due to the actions of those in power in the years leading up to it. The plot begins in the thirties, focusing on how these problems arose. The world has changed, but while the old empires whose pride drove the world to war have fallen, the new powers that have risen to replace them have inherited the same motives.Īs a history buff, I love how Follett doesn't simply focus on the Nazis and the parts of the Second World War that were fought in Europe. The Soviet Union grows in power, and the deprivations that followed the Great War have sowed the seeds of Fascism.

Now the world faces the consequences of those years. We've moved on from the politics of the First World War. It's simply our point of attention that's shifted. And it works, mirroring how one generation hands the reigns to the next.

The previous characters aren't forgotten, merely demoted from protagonists to side characters. The change in characters is handled masterfully. And both politics and family are things that simply keep going, whether we're paying attention or not. I put this down to the fact that the nature of this story is how the politics of the twentieth century affected these families over time. Yes, we've moved from the previous protagonists to focus on their children, but it doesn't feel like there's need a gap. But while some trilogies feel like three separate books, each telling its own story as part of the whole, this feels different. That seems kind of obvious when I write it out. This was a continuation of Fall of Giants. As I got into this book, it became clear that I wasn't reading something new.

Ken follett winter