Also contemplate Ethel and Maud's work as women's rights advocates. Were there aspects of each woman's personal life that seemed at odds with her commitment to advancing the cause of women? I should think they’ll be lining up to offer you a job. And perhaps some future president will want your help.” Grigori works alongside Trotsky. He urges the leader to use political rather than military measures. The White leader Denikin is in favor of private property, which means that peasants would have to return land that they gained in the Revolution. Spreading this information should turn peasant support to the Reds.

Discuss Maud and Ethel's relationship. Did you expect them to form such a lasting bond, considering they met as mistress and servant? What did you think of the circumstances surrounding how their friendship ultimately dissolved? In Paris, personal grievances between the British and French commanding generals slow communication as the Germans march on the city. Fitz learns that the French government has fled Paris. He receives a call from Maud with the news of the London home front. Fitz tells her of his prediction that the war will be over, one way or another, in a few days. In the course of the book, virtually all female characters get pregnant – with or without being married – and give birth to one or two children. These will be teenagers in the 1930s and young adults during the Second World War, and will be the main characters of the series' second book.a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy Williams, begins working down the mines as George V is crowned king. The escalating arms race between the empire nations will put not only the king but this young boy in grave danger. The boys are led to their workplaces by Rhys Price, who dislikes Billy because Ethel refused to “walk out with” (date) him. Billy and Tommy are given lamps designed so they will not spark an explosion in the methane from the coal seams. They ride down the shaft in a cage lift.

When you first read about Billy Williams in chapter one, did you anticipate how his life would unfurl—for example, that he would end up in running for Parliament? What about other characters: Could you guess what some of them would end up doing or being at the book's end? What did you think of Earl Fitzherbert at the beginning of Fall of Giants? How did he evolve as a man throughout the course of the narrative? Did your opinion of Fitz change from your initial impression of him? Rich story-telling in satisfying Follett style. I happened to be listening to the Battle of the Somme as we reached Remembrance Sunday this year - right at the time the papers were full of photos of the poppies at the Tower of London. Really quite poignant. Grigori’s joy is tempered when he sees that Pinsky, his nemesis, has joined the Revolution. Katerina gives birth to a girl while Grigori is busy fighting; she sent a message to him that she was giving birth, but he ignored it. She is bitter that she had to have the baby with the help of the midwife they both hated. As Grigori finishes his story, he cleans Katerina’s wounds and falls instantly in love with her. He tells her of the death of his mother, killed on Bloody Sunday in 1905 when the workers marched to the Winter Palace to plead to the tsar for redress of grievances.

Success!

Follett’s research is a facile gilding. In Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, Follett demonstrated his inability to create memorable personages or write convincing dialogue. Yet he also did a marvelous job cramming period-specific detail into the story. I still shudder to think about medieval bread, thanks to Follett’s meticulous recounting of how it was made. Nothing like that level of detail is present here. Instead, famous events are often passed off in the form of exposition. Towards the end of the novel, there is a nice little scene showing rampant inflation in postwar Germany. This small, intimate, anecdotal moment, shows Follett at his best, working his research into his lar Fitz receives intelligence that the German army is bypassing Paris and heading toward the River Marne. Fitz is frustrated by the British retreat, which will ensure the fall of Paris. He manages to get the commanding generals to negotiate, but this infuriates Colonel Harvey, his superior, who warns him that his advancement in the military is over. And all this is very human as he interlaces stories of the personal lives of interesting characters.

Maud runs a newspaper supporting better treatment of the dependents of servicemen; Ethel Williams is the manager. Together they have both ends of the social spectrum covered. They confront the woman in charge of distributing the “separation allowances” to wives of soldiers. She is withholding the money from women whom she feels are not morally fit. Maud is arrested when she refuses to leave. Walter tells Maud that France has rejected neutrality and is beginning to mobilize her army. He will be leaving Britain to join his regiment as Germany invades France. From May to June 1919, Walter writes to Maud as German delegates travel to Versailles. The peace treaty is much worse than any of them expected and includes a war guilt clause where Germany must take full responsibility for the war. Their counterproposal is seen as impudent by the French. Walter then finds Maud in a park and the two rent a home nearby to stay together while the treaty is being discussed. They decide to release news of their marriage through one of the papers in Britain as Walter must return to Berlin. Gus and Rosa meet during this time and the two confess their love for each other. Maud faces hatred in Britain for marrying a German man and ends up agreeing to go with Walter to Berlin. By 1923, Maud and Walter have two children and are living middle-class lives in a small house. Inflation is gradually pushing them toward poverty. The Munich Beer Hall Putsch highlights the conditions in Germany. Walter’s cousin Robert announces that he has joined the Nationalist Socialist party, commonly called the Nazi party.In St. Petersburg, Fitz and Gus Dewar tour the Russian locomotive works, guided by Lev and Grigori Peshkov. Grigori recognizes Fritz’s wife Bea as the sister of the Russian prince who had killed his father. Billy and Tommy, now sixteen years old, are working when they hear the explosion. They go down to rescue the trapped workers. It becomes clear that changes to the safety conditions required by recent laws have not been implemented. Billy gains a reputation as a hero for his efforts in the rescue operation. Ken has been active in numerous literacy charities and was president of Dyslexia Action for ten years. He was chair of the National Year of Reading, a joint initiative between government and businesses. He is also active in many Stevenage charities and is President of the Stevenage Community Trust and Patron of Home-Start Hertfordshire.

Walter sneaks into Petrograd disguised as a Russian peasant. He runs into Grigori at the train station and they discuss the position of the Bolsheviks in the government. Followed by a policeman, Walter manages to kill his pursuer. The Conservatives start a counterrevolution against the Bolsheviks, as Grigori had predicted. Fall of Giants is a 2010 historical novel by Welsh author Ken Follett. It is the first part of the Century Trilogy which follows five interrelated families throughout the course of the 20th century. The first book covers notable events such as World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. [1] The sequel Winter of the World covers World War II and was published on September 18, 2012. The third book, Edge of Eternity, covers the Cold War and was published in 2014.Grigori rises in the emerging Bolshevik Party. Katerina is miserable as the birth of her baby draws near. In an attempt to break up the soviets, the government decides to send the Petrograd garrison to the front. Lenin and Trotsky argue over the merits of a coalition government. Before reading Fall of Giants, what did you know about World War I? Did you learn anything new upon finishing the novel?