Edge of Eternity

The magnificent historical epic The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett comes to a sweeping, impassioned conclusion with Edge of Eternity.

Follett has chronicled the lives of five interwoven families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they navigated the twentieth century in these works. The 1960s through the 1980s saw tremendous social, political, and economic unrest, ranging from the Vietnam War, assassinations, and civil rights movements to the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution, and rock & roll.

After learning that the Stasi has been spying on her for years, East German teacher Rebecca Hoffman takes an impulsive action that will have a lasting impact on her family.The mixed-race couple's kid George Jakes decides to join Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department instead of pursuing a career in corporate law, and he ends himself embroiled in both a personal and a landmark civil rights struggle.The grandson of a senator, Cameron Dewar, is eager to do both official and covert espionage for a cause he supports, only to find that the world is much more perilous than he had anticipated.Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Nikita Khrushchev, becomes a prime agent both for good and for ill as the United States and the Soviet Union race to the brink of nuclear war, while his twin sister, Tania, carves out a role that will take her from Moscow to Cuba to Prague to Warsaw – and into history.

As usual with Follett, the action moves quickly, the characters are nuanced and full of passion, and the historical backdrop is well researched and presented. He opens our eyes to a world we thought we knew, but that will never appear the same again, thanks to the skillful touch of a master.