The first book of Ken Follett's magnificent epic that follows the story of five families throughout the 20th century... June 22, 1911. As George V ascends the throne of Great Britain, Billy Williams, a child from a Welsh mining family, earns his first wage deep underground... Love and hatred will fatefully connect the Williams family with the aristocratic and powerful Fitzherbert family, who own the mines: Ethel, Billy's sister, falls in love with Earl Fitzherbert, breaking moral and class barriers. But Lady Maud, the earl's sister, also treads on dangerous ground as she is captivated by the fascinating Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London... Their lives will be intertwined with the destiny of three more people: Gus Dewar, an ambitious young advisor to the American President, and the Peshkov brothers from Russia, whose dream of emigrating to America is lost in the whirlwind of World War I and the October Revolution... From the dark tunnels of the mines to the illuminated salons of the ruling class, from the battlefields to the corridors of power and the bedrooms of the mighty, from London to Petrograd, Washington, and Paris, Ken Follett weaves an epic novel that can only be compared to his masterpiece, The Pillars of the Earth. The first part of a gigantic fresco that, through the story of its unique, fascinating heroes, depicts the great adventure of the 20th century itself...