We move forward a decade or two with The Winter of the World, book two of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. As Stalin consolidates power in Russia and Roosevelt becomes President while Hitler rises to power we meet the next generation of the same families we met in the first book, Fall of Giants. Lloyd Williams, son of Ethel Williams, wants nothing more than to fight fascism in its many forms after watching the brutality of the rising Nazi party on a trip to Germany as a teenager. Carla, daughter of Maud Fitzherbert and Walter Von Ulrich, sees the rising popularity of the Nazi party in her native Germany and helps her family push back in a variety of different ways even when it might mean being a traitor to Germany in the process. Across the ocean we see Woody Dewar, son of Gus Dewar, trying to figure out who he wants to be as an adult. At the same time we see Greg Peshkov and Daisy Peshkov, half-siblings who are the children of Lev Peshkov, as each one tries to find their own place in the world and figure out their role in it. In Russia we meet Volodya, son of Grigori Peshkov, as he struggles to determine if communism is actually the right way forward for the future.
This book was a great continuation of the previous book. I like the idea of following the same families forward in time through successive generations. We get to see how the family evolves and changes over time and the events of one generation end up shaping the next. While the background context is the rise of fascism and the events leading up to and during WWII it was interesting seeing how the different characters handled things. I also was intrigued by the interplay between the different families. This was something that was present in the first book with all of the characters interacting with each other to greater or lesser degrees but that really builds with this second book due to the friendships and relationships built with that first generation. The way it all unravels was fascinating to watch. I have to admit that the ability to create a good and fully fleshed out character is definitely one of Follett’s best skills and it really comes into play with this series. At the same time I also have a lot of respect for the massive amounts of research he probably did to write this series. This book covers the 1930’s and 40’s and events that took place during that time frame. However, due to the fact that the families depicted are all different nationalities we see differing viewpoints of the events. A good example of this is during the actual war when we see events in Berlin from Carla’s perspective and the German front from her brother’s. At the same time we see the English side from Lloyd’s and the American side from Woody Dewar and his brother. We also see the Russian side with Volodya who is working in Russian Intelligence. All of these different perspectives of the same time frame allows for an incredibly well rounded picture of what was happening and the reality of what happened. I love the incredible amount of depth to the story and absolutely enjoyed it. This definitely deserves 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Much like the previous work in the series this book is also historical fiction and would probably be classified as an epic with it approaching a thousand pages. If you enjoy a good piece of historical fiction and don’t mind reading something that long than you really should consider trying it out as it is incredible. However, if you don’t like either of those things than you might not enjoy it so much though you might still consider it anyway. This book is graphic at times as it contains both violence and mature content so it is definitely aimed at an adult audience. I won’t say that teens or young adults can’t read it but I will say that only older teens and young adults should read it and they should be aware that it contains content like that before trying it. It is a great book though and well worth the read if you decide to try it. Feel free to share your thoughts about it in the comments if you do.