Fall of Giants (Century Trilogy, 1)

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On April 6, 1917, the United States declares war on Germany. Walter’s only hope now is for the Russian government to collapse so that the anti-war group will take control.

Follett writes from the vantage points of people whose home countries come to the brink of—and finally enter into—a world war. What was it like to read the perspectives of enemies as they embark on battle with one another? Did you find yourself taking sides in any way? Did reading about World War I through fiction cause you to think differently about the conflict? Walter blames his father and his father’s generation for the prolonged war. The American Expeditionary Force landed in France in June 1917, despite the arrogant assurances of the German leadership that it would not. All now depends on Russia withdrawing from the war. Lev arrives in America, where the Vyalov family in Buffalo hires him. He is now fluent in English, but with a British accent. He makes money on the side by selling stolen goods on Vyalov property. Beaten by some of Vyalov’s henchmen, he is brought before Mr. Vyalov, who is impressed with Lev’s boldness.Fitz attends a political dinner where the talk turns to women’s suffrage. Perceval Jones, once mayor of Aberowen and now its representative in Parliament, says Conservatives support the current bill because it shuts out the young women laborers who are usually socialists. Fitz is against the whole thing and, like his sister Maud, is not in favor of compromise. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

The characters and their extended families find their fortunes changing for the better and for the worse due to both their interactions with each other and the effects of the First World War.In December 1916, Fitz works at the Admiralty after suffering a major injury in the battle at Somme. He translates German communications, but cannot decode them himself. When the prime minister resigns, the ing asked Bonar Law who declined thinking it should go to Lloyd George instead. Fitz wants someone with aggression, but Maud wants peace. He meets with Bea and demands that she do her duty and produce more heirs, though Fitz feels bad about the encounter after he leaves to meet with the wive’s of soldiers. Once there, he is surprised to see Ethel, and the two talks about all that has happened. He asks her to meet him the next day. She does and he offers her a luxurious house and all she could want to live as his mistress. Ethel agonizes over the decision as Maud meets Gus at a Gallery. Gus says there is a divide in Germany and the war faction convinced the kaiser to invade Romania. When real people have conversations with my fictional characters, they are usually saying things they really did say at some point. Lloyd George's explanation to Fitz of why he does not want to deport Lev Kamenev is based on what Lloyd George wrote in a memo quoted in Peter Rowland's biography. The book is redeemed to an extent by some great descriptions, the delivery of casulty telegrams being one good scene.