Five families are brought together through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution and the struggle for votes for women.
It's 1911, and the coronation day of King George V. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams begins his first day at work in a coal mine.
Drama and intrique unfold as Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always, Ken Follett's richly developed historical background only enhances fast-moving action and powerful emotion of this absorbing narrative.