This is the second book in The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. In this series, he follows the fortunes of five families throughout the 20th century as they weather the storms of the era and interact with each other. Winter of the World picks up a number of years after World War I. Knowing the history, this is, at first, setting the stage for World War II and all that comes afterward. If you’re a student of history, there’s little suspense here as we know what happens. However, it kept me on the edge of my seat to see what characters would survive.
It is the early 1930s when we meet the familiar characters again. Due to the economic hardships foisted upon Germany following World War I, the Nazi Party is starting to make inroads with the citizens there. Walter von Ulrich and Maud Fitzherbert are married and now live in Germany, although they are avowed Social Democrats. Ethel and Lloyd Williams are visiting from England and witness firsthand the thuggery employed by the Nazis. Although an avowed pacifist, Ethel sees the Nazis for the danger they are.
With no other prospects on the horizon, Lloyd Williams ends up volunteering to fight the fascists in Spain along with others from the Welsh mining town. His experience there will help him later on.
In the Soviet Union, Greg Peshkov is high in the Communist regime ruling that country. He sees problems with Communism but also thinks it can work with reforms. His son, Volodya, has risen high as a spy for the Red Army, getting information out of Germany. Volodya’s girlfriend was working on nuclear research for the Soviets until Stalin derailed the program.
Daisy Peshkov is a socialite in Buffalo, New York, but also treated with disdain due to her father’s gangster ways. She decides to cross the pond and find herself a titled British husband. While she succeeds in wedding the oldest son of Lord Fitzherbert, the marriage is not what she expected. As the Nazis bear down on England, she finds herself driving an ambulance in the middle of the London Bombing as well as discovering her own humanity.
Gus Dewar is an aide to President Roosevelt who tries to gauge what is going to happen as political alliances are tested. Both of his sons are in the service, and we get to see Pearl Harbor through their eyes.
If there’s one complaint I have it’s that the characters suffer from what I term “Forrest Gump Syndrome.” It’s unlikely that they would all be in certain places at certain times to be witnesses to history. However, Follett doesn’t have them cover every pivotal moment of this time period. In Germany, Karla von Ulrich learns of the Nazis slaughtering citizens who are mentally and physically deficient and does her best to expose it. She can’t save everyone, and although they know Jews are disappearing she doesn’t seem to put together that it’s happening to them as well, so we get no perspective on the Nazi concentration camps.
I did gain a greater knowledge of why there were so many British soldiers in France who had to be evacuated at Dunkirk, even if Follett doesn’t cover this particular event. I also gained greater knowledge of the Spanish Civil War and how Franco came to power. There’s plenty of history in the book and it’s told in a way that is interesting. It has more depth than any of the classes I had in high school that covered this time period.
The characters are well crafted. Follett is moving on to the second generation of characters, paying more attention to the sons and daughters of those introduced in the first book of the trilogy. I found myself initially not liking Daisy, but by the end of the book she had morphed into a great character with a lot of depth. Her journey felt plausible, as did the others. They are shaped by events surrounding them. The “villains” so to speak are mostly historical figures. There were enough at this time period that there weren’t many others needed. The exception was one German character created to be the nemesis of the von Ulrichs who reappears from time to time.
I was surprised by how much further than World War II Winter of the World actually went. It takes it to the end of the 1940s and gives me a clearer picture of the Soviets in Germany during those early post-war years. I’m old enough to remember the fear of communism and the Berlin Wall, but not the events that led to the Cold War. All I knew was the Soviets were bad, but I didn’t understand exactly what happened. There’s a lot of great information here to fill in some of the gaps I never learned about.
The audiobook is good. John Lee is a good narrator, although I think he was a bit squeamish during Follett’s sex scenes. Follett isn’t great at those, and I find a man reading them to be challenging. However, Lee is a clean reader. I’m hearing that now as I am listening to another audiobook where I hear a lot of smacking of lips and heavy breathing.
I enjoyed Winter of the World enough that I moved right on to the final book in the trilogy after finishing it. The characters are compelling and the history is very detailed and interesting, giving a different perspective than many other historical fiction books I’ve read about the era. I highly recommend it.
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“It has more depth than any of the classes I had in high school that covered this time period.”
I think, honestly, that because politics plays a major role in how certain subjects are presented, high school history is deliberately shallow. How else can one explain why events as dramatic as the American Civil War or the Second World War are usually either boring (my US History to 1877 teacher focused solely on the economics of the Civil War, for instance) or superficial? I’m a history buff, but that’s because I read books and watched documentaries on my own.
‘Tis true. The book I read “Lies My Teacher Told Me” pointed out how the textbooks are deliberately bland, which is a shame. History is a fascinating subject, and there are few absolute black and white situations (Nazis and our current situation excepted).
I was so disillusioned when I signed up – to get out of the house and make room in my regular class schedule for chorus and yearbook production – for the two required history modules in the Summer of ’81. History of the U.S. to 1877 was the most disappointing of the two classes; Mr. Brooks either did the “list of names and dates” thing, or his lectures would be mostly about the economics behind the Revolution and the Civil War. Reconstruction was skipped. (Gee, I wonder why?) History of the U.S. from 1877 was slightly better, but that’s because Mr. Cummings was a savvier, more engaging teacher. But even Mr. C was hobbled by the guidelines he had to follow about what he could tell us students about.
My 7th grade history teacher taught us about the Civil War using Gone With the Wind, which was interesting. I’ve become more jaded of that technique in recent years, though.
I would have used The Red Badge of Courage instead (thinking of movies available at the time). I know GWTW is a favorite movie for many people, not just Southerners, but it’s not a good teaching tool. It’s one of the most effective pro-Confederacy, “Lost Cause” propaganda tools ever created. The only reason I own the Blu-ray is because I knew Mom loved it and really didn’t grasp the history behind its creation, especially since I gave it to her when her dementia was really taking hold.
(True story: Back when I was living where I was till I moved here, I watched GWTW with as much as an open mind as I could to reassure myself that I could watch it as a “work of art” and stomach it. I watched the entire thing…without skipping a single chapter. It’s a technical marvel…but still has a pro-Confederacy slant that irks me to no end.)