The Pillars of the Earth

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: Richard E Grant

Abridged edition, narrated by Richard E Grant (Withnail and I)

An epic, spellbinding 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 historical masterpiece.

A Mason with a Dream
It is 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 is the church prior of Kingsbridge. A resourceful man, he knows that if his town is to survive at all, it must find a way to truly thrive. He decides, then, to build Kingsbridge the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

A World of High Ideals and Savage Cruelty
As the prior recruits his mason, so begins a journey of ambition, anarchy and the struggle for absolute power. Facing enemies that would thwart them, they will stop at nothing to fulfil their grand plans of Kingsbridge. Soon fester the tensions (see note on 'fester the tension') between good and evil, turning 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.

Critic reviews

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

Pillars of the Earth

A great author that took me along the journey of hardship, sadness, relief, anger, cruelty, self obsessed people, generous people, heartache, determination and survival. The book ending was a slight anti climax and seem to end before it should have but I think that about good movies I want them to go on forever.

a story to get lost in...

5th time listening to this epic tale.. might just have to listen to it a 6th time!

Cinematic

Ken Follett writes with such vivid prose it's impossible not to drop into his world as he projects the story directly onto your imagination. Whilst the ending is a little rushed it is a deeply satisfying tale full of adventure, courage, loss, retribution and the full melodramatic palette. There is also screeds of fascinating information of time, place and matters architecture.
Highly recommended.

brilliant and engaging story

Ken Follett is a master...vivid story telling and brilliantly pieced together tale. Also, this narrator is phenomenal! it was hard to tear myself away

poorly abridged

No doubt a good book but spoiled by being poorly abridged - and of course no unabridged version available in my geographical location!