The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Historical Fiction, 973 pages
New American Library a division of Penguin

FTC Disclosure: Purchased

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England (Taken from the jacket)

I hate to restrict myself to a particular genre, but I love historical fiction. I’m particularly drawn to ones set in England because I lived there one summer. Although I spent much of my time in Cambridge, I made it a point to venture out every chance I got to visit historic sites, one of which was Westminster Abbey. To this day, I’ill always remember being in complete awe at the magnitude and beauty of such a structure, especially considering its present construction began in 1245. (The site had been used by Benedictine monks since the tenth century) 

I was dumbstruck upon realizing that I was literally walking through history, and a very old history at that. Perhaps to some this may seem a bit much, but remember I’m an American and structures such as these do not exist here. During that same trip I also had the opportunity to visit Notre Dame de Paris and again, I was awed. 

It wasn’t until reading this book that I began to look at each building with a new understanding. These churches were not built with your typical materials. They were constructed using the blood, sweat, and tears of entire communities. Ken Follett brings to life, albeit through fiction, the issues these people had to face on a day-to-day basis, not the least of which was simply to survive. In the midst of this we have the characters of Philip the prior of Kingsbridge and Tom Builder; both obsessed with building a magnificent cathedral. 

As Follett states in the preface:

The building of medieval cathedrals is an astonishing phenomenon. The builders had no power tools, they did not understand the mathematics of structural engineering, and they were poor…Yet they put up the most beautiful buildings that have ever existed, and they built them so well that they are still here, hundreds of years later, for us to study and marvel at.

Follett became fascinated about these churches, and after my experiences at Westminster and Notre Dame, I can understand why. From there he began to form his thoughts and create a story to integrate not only what he’d learned about these churches and their builders, but the times in which they lived and how it affected every aspect of their lives. Thus along the path to the completion of Kingsbridge Cathedral, Tom and prior Philip must contend with civil war, famine, and the consequences of blind ambition. 

As historical novels go, this is one of the best I’ve read in a long time and receives a strong recommendation. And please, don’t let the length scare you away. It’s well worth it.