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waynebouwer 's review for:
Fall of Giants
by Ken Follett
Many of the major conflicts of our age had their germination in the talks that unfolded post WWI & II. I am thinking particularly of the dismantling of Colonialism in Vietnam (formerly French Indo-China), Rhodesia, and Central Africa. The divvying up of nations and boundaries that we take for granted simply did not exist pre-WWI. The genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda are to some extent rooted in these decisions.
Follett’s ‘Fall of Giants’ gives an insightful view of how radically the world has changed from before WWI to afterwards. The strength of his narrative lies in how he weaves the lives of ordinary people (and some not so ordinary) into course of history. What was so fresh for me was how reveals the complexity of events that let to the outbreak of WWI.
For so long I have been baffled by how 3 cousins could be party to such a horrific conflict (the British King, the German Kaiser, and the Russian Tsar). Follett writes against the popular and naïve view that attributes all the blame simply to German aggression. He goes behind the scenes and shows the complexity of these events, the many people from all sides who were opposed to war, as well as the folly and arrogance of many of the political and military rulers. For me this was a wonderful, informative, and thought provoking novel.
Follett’s ‘Fall of Giants’ gives an insightful view of how radically the world has changed from before WWI to afterwards. The strength of his narrative lies in how he weaves the lives of ordinary people (and some not so ordinary) into course of history. What was so fresh for me was how reveals the complexity of events that let to the outbreak of WWI.
For so long I have been baffled by how 3 cousins could be party to such a horrific conflict (the British King, the German Kaiser, and the Russian Tsar). Follett writes against the popular and naïve view that attributes all the blame simply to German aggression. He goes behind the scenes and shows the complexity of these events, the many people from all sides who were opposed to war, as well as the folly and arrogance of many of the political and military rulers. For me this was a wonderful, informative, and thought provoking novel.