Winter of the World

Winter of the World is the second installment in Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, continuing the sweeping story of intertwined families through the turbulent decades of the twentieth century. The novel opens in Berlin in 1933, a city on the brink of dramatic political transformation.

Eleven-year-old Carla von Ulrich finds herself caught in the growing unrest as Hitler consolidates power in Germany. At the center of the upheaval is her family — already fractured by uncertainty — and the arrival of Ethel Leckw, her mother’s strong-willed friend and a former British Member of Parliament, who steps into the storm of change with conviction and courage.

Against a backdrop of rising authoritarianism and social division, the novel sets the stage for the next chapter in the global saga, exploring how personal lives are shaped by the darkening political landscape. As in the first volume, private struggles and public events are closely intertwined, marking the beginning of a new era of conflict and resistance.