Book: Winter of the World by Ken Follett

Book Two of the Century Trilogy

I liked Book One much better. Maybe because the characters were fresh and young and on the cusp of lives rich with meaning. In Book Two, these same characters grow older. The second generation enters and continues the stories, but in more diluted, not as compelling, ways.

Winter of the World continues the century story with WWII (the buildup and aftermath) as experienced mostly in Europe and Russia. But, it seemed more hastily written, less subtle, with broad strokes and quick, not always credible vignettes to mark meetings between the many characters.

I know much has been written about the concentration camps, but they are barely mentioned. I'm sure this was intentional. The horror of Hitler's Germany is certainly exposed as the German people themselves suffer severe deprivations and abuse, but still, to write of WWII and not have a character in the camps seems a sin of omission. We can never have enough reminders; never enough stories about this ultimate expression of evil.

Still, history and its politics are reviewed as the nations participate and engage with each other and Russia emerges as the new oppressor, Communism replaces Fascism in parts of Europe, alarming the democracies. Women emerge as strong, articulate advocates for recognition and admission into previously male-dominated roles.

And, there is the atomic bomb and the race for nuclear supremacy or at least equality. I did like the sections about the testing sites and the scientists who made the bomb, piquing my curiosity and prompting a resolve to read more about The Manhattan Project and Fermi and Oppenheimer and Los Alamos, etc.

Book Three will be Edge of Eternity "about the next generation during the Cold War" per the author.

Certainly an ambitious task…writing about a century of white men and women.