Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 1100 pages

Oprah Winfrey
'It's such a great read...I got to 800 pages, and I slowed myself down because I didn't want it to end.'

Synopsis
"The Pillars of the Earth" tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known; of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul; of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame; and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother. A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, this is Ken Follett's historical masterpiece. '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' - "Cosmopolitan". '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' - "Sunday Express".

Customer Reviews

Awesome
I've just got to say this, I'm about Two thirds into this book and I must say its one of the most easy reading enjoyable book I have read. Great You have to read it. Buy it!

Unputdownable!!!!!
I originally bought this book having seen Oprah give it a rave review, and thought it might be okay. How wrong I was! More than okay, it was fantastic! Laying in bed one morning, thinking about getting up, I leant over to the bookshelf and picked it up, just to read the first few pages to see if it gripped me. It did! I then spent the next two weeks doing very little else other than reading. It's true that it might not be everyones idea of perfect reading matter; how to build a cathedral! But it's so much more. You get so engrosed in the life of the characters, that at some points I was almost frightened with them! I've even tried to see just how many places, people etc I could find that were real. Just for info, I have another book along similar lines which I have enjoyed many times over the years, although not so hefty (or well known). "A Wayside Tavern" by Norah Lofts tells the story of an English tavern from Roman times to present day. Not Pillars of the Earth magnificence, but good all the same.

Gripping page turner set in medieval England
Interweaving the lives of two families with a celibate monk and their arch-enemies, this tale brings to life adventure, conquest and power-lust in the twelfth century. Against the backdrop of cathedral building, all human emotions are exposed in the ruthless villains and (mostly) virtuous heroes. A classic tale of good and evil that captivates from the start - I couldn't put the book down.