A review by rebeccatc
Winter of the World by Ken Follett

4.0

The second installment in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy, Winter of the World covers the time period from 1933 to 1949. While the characters from Fall of Giants are part of the story, the point of view is that of their children: the von Ulrichs in Berlin; the Williams family in London; the DeWar family in Buffalo and Washington, DC; and the Peshkovs in Moscow and in Buffalo. The scope of this book is enormous, creating a sense of daily life and also examining the political intricacies of a turning point in history when the world hovered precariously between the twin evils of fascism and communism. I particularly liked the description of life in Berlin under Nazi rule, and of London during the Blitz. The only area I felt lacking was the way he glossed over the Holocaust. If this book were my only source of information about Nazi Germany, I would be left believing that the Nazis only executed political prisoners and the handicapped. The format prevents any real intimacy with the characters, but I still found myself rooting for the feisty young Berliner Carla von Ulrich, the anti-Nazi spy Werner Franck, the romantic idealist Lloyd Williams, and Daisy Peshkov, the Russian-American ex-patriot who has something of a Scarlett O'Hara - style awakening in London during the Blitz. Follett's books never disappoint, and he really humanizes history in an accessible way. Looking forward to the third installment.