I was absolutely enthralled with Edge of Eternity, the final book in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. It opens in the early 1960’s with George Jakes, son of Greg Peshkov, participating in the Freedom Rides. From there it follows his career working with Bobby Kennedy in the Justice Department. At the same time it follows the lives and careers of Tanya and Dimka Dvorkin, niece and nephew of Volodya Peshkov, who live in the Soviet Union and work as a reporter and an aide in the Kremlin. We also meet Dave Williams, son of Lloyd Williams and Daisy Peshkov, who wishes to make it big in the music industry. In Germany Rebecca, adopted daughter of Carla Von Ulrich, who is faced with a rather desperate choice that may result in her freedom but also further restrictions on her family. Her brother Walli faces a similar choice as he also wishes to pursue a career in music, something potentially impossible in East Germany. In America, we meet Cameron Dewar, son of Woody Dewar, who goes against the views of his entire family as he supports the Republican Party and Richard Nixon.
This book covers three decades of the last century but the same three decades that cover such a wide swath of events that include most of the cold war, the splitting and reunification of Germany, the rise of Rock and Roll, and the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. Much like the previous two books in the series we see these events develop through the eyes of the next generation in the same families. With each of these families coming from different countries though we get this incredibly well rounded view of those events as we see them from multiple perspectives. A great example is towards the beginning of the book with the Cuban Missile Crisis we see the American perspective from an aide in the Justice Department, an aide in the White House Press Corps, a soviet report and informant for the Kremlin on the ground in Cuba and an aide in the Kremlin itself. By doing this it really helps to feel like the book is bringing these events to life with this in-depth multi-dimensionality that is really rather rare in historical fiction. Probably because it takes so much research to get most of the more important details right in order to do so. This depth to the history is one of the things that I really appreciate about this series and makes me have a lot of respect for Follett. However, the other thing that I really like about the series, and perhaps what really drives the series, is the amount of depth that he also gives to his characters. His characters aren’t perfect, they have flaws and they make mistakes but they have incredible depth at the same time. You really feel like they could be real people and could practically walk right off of the page. I can’t say that about very many characters but I can say that about these characters and actually mean every word of it. This is definitely a book that I am happy to give 5 out of 5 stars too as it absolutely deserves it.
As you may have gathered this book is a great piece of historical fiction and could almost be considered an epic due to the overall length of the book. If you happen to enjoy great historical fiction than you should seriously consider this series. While you can read this book as a stand-alone you may be more familiar with the families backstories if you read the previous two first. This book will also probably hold some appeal for those interested in reading about the Civil Rights movement or about the Cold War or about life in Germany behind the Iron Curtain. If you don’t enjoy any of these topics than the book may not be for you though you are still welcome to try it anyway. Due to the events and time periods this book covers it does contain some violence, considerable racism, and other potentially mature and difficult topics and themes. As such it should only be read by older teens and young adults at best and even then only with advanced warning about the content. The book is really great and I genuinely hope you consider reading it. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.