The Christian Science Monitor

'A Column of Fire' is half historic epic, half thriller – all of it engaging

Some readers may forget that, before Ken Follett became a best-selling writer of historical fiction epics, he came to prominence cranking out thrillers and spy novels. In A Column of Fire, Follett combines his writing passions, telling an expansive story chronicling 50 years of Protestant-Catholic battles in England through the lives of spies, secret agents, and others on both sides of the conflict.

The new book is set in the fictional wool-trading market city of Kingsbridge, a town first encountered in “The Pillars of the Earth.”

“Pillars,” published in 1989,

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