Fall of Giants

In 1911, Billy Williams goes down the coal mine in Aberowen, Wales, on his 13th birthday. The mine sits on Earl Fitzherbert's land, and in 1914 the earl hosts King George V, with Billy's sister Ethel as housekeeper. Lady Maud, the earl's liberal sister, falls for German diplomat Walter von Ulrich. In St. Petersburg, orphaned brothers Grigori and Lev Peshkov hate the family of Fitz's Russian wife, who had their father executed. War, revolution and the fight for women's votes put the five families on opposite sides. By the early 1920s, nearly all of them have children, who lead the next book.

1. Behind the scenesThe book that gave it shape

   Follett read Eric Hobsbawm's The Age of Extremes. It gave him the idea of the 20th century as a period with a beginning and an end, and he could see the shape of his trilogy.

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2. Behind the scenesIt happened, or it might have

   Follett's rule: either the scene happened, or it might have. He cut scenes where a real figure was in another country at the time. Sir Edward Grey's speech in the Commons follows the parliamentary record, just shortened.

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3. Behind the scenesThe miniseries that never aired

   In December 2014, ABC announced a 10-hour miniseries based on this book, produced by Sony and written by Ann Peacock. If it rated well, the other two books would follow. It never made it to TV.

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4. ReferenceIt opens on coronation day

   The first chapter is set on 22 June 1911, the day George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. That's the day 13-year-old Billy Williams first goes down the pit in Aberowen.

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5. SetupWho the giants are

   Follett explained the title: the giants that fall are the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German empires and the tsarist regime. Notice how each family is tied to one of them.

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