A lot of people were surprised by The Pillars of the Earth,including me. I was known as a thriller writer. In the book business, when you have had a success, the smart thing to do is write the same sort of thing once a year for the rest of your life. Clowns should not try to play Hamlet; pop stars should not write symphonies. I should not have risked my reputation by writing something out of character and overambitious.

It begins with a curse, a song and a hanging, andit builds into a magnificent adventure no reader will ever forget. At once a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age, THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH is without doubt Ken Follett's masterpiece, and a story for all time...