This is my initial foray into the writings of Ken Follett. His works have occupied a prominent place upon the truck; though, for obvious reasons of length, he does not appear as prolific as other contemporary authors who publish new works on an assembly line basis.
This tale is the first in a trilogy, and it revolves around the period of time leading up to and involving World War I. Perhaps WWI is far enough removed from our current day and age to offer WWII more prominence upon the world stage; perhaps the events surrounding it were more distinctly European than that of WWII, which truly did encompass world locales. Irregardless, what Mr. Follett has accomplished here (in my halfway point of indulging in this work) is open the forgotten events of that war to contemporary readers. He covers it on the global stage, while also involving a reader in the personal lives of the differing people, i.e. he draws story lines of English families, Welsh, German, Russian, and an American diplomat who works as an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson.
Where I find myself currently within the story, America has yet to become involved; and from my limited understanding of that period of history, I frankly can't say I understand why we became involved in the first place. Everyone knows what precipitated our involvement in WWII; all one can say of WWI is the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand by Serbians to be the event that began the war.
From what I have been able to discern from the story, it appears Russia and Britain are fighting against Germany in the conflict - though Russia and Britain don't appear to be fighting with each other; and all are suffering through a war that makes no sense. At least to this reader's eyes, there doesn't seem to be any reason for it. Unlike WWII, where one can say it was an effort to stop Hitler, the reasons behind WWI are less than apparent. I know, from my own reading of history, it involved something to do with alliances: if one country went to war with another, the countries that held an alliance with that country had to join them in their fight. But where are Austria and Serbia in this struggle? I believe Follett has mentioned Austrian forces as fighting with German forces, but any such mention seems more of an aside.
The one aspect of this tale I find myself growing weary of is the constant sexual activity. It seems anyone and everyone is having sex with everyone else. For good or for ill, whenever any male character enters a moment of privacy with any female character, sex always results: some in mere lusts; some in actual marital love; all becoming too conspicuous and tiresome. While sex clearly happened back then (all of us occupying place here on earth are evidence enough of that), must he lock us in the private rooms of each encounter. I would rather learn more of how this conflict developed, how it affected the people of the varying countries, what was learned afterwards - if anything.
There was one poignant moment in the story I must mention. It's something one wishes more of the leaders who make the decisions to go to war would take to heart would listen to and consider. It involved a Christmas Day piece of ground. English forces occupied land opposite German forces. One of the commanding officers is amazed, on Christmas Day, there is no fighting; there is no soldier occupying his post. Rather, English soldiers are mixed with German soldiers - on the field of battle - sharing Christmas memories, family pictures, and the like. It was an event that began with the Germans singing "Silent Night" and wishing the English a 'Happy Christmas'. I had heard of this previously through other reading. Sadly, the war did not cease there.
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