Analysis: A Column of Fire: A 2017 Novel by British Author Ken Follett, First Published on 12 September, 2017. It Is the Third Book in the Kingsbridge Series,

A Column of Fire is a 2017 novel by British author Ken Follett, first published on 12 September, 2017. It is the third book in the Kingsbridge Series, and serves as a sequel to 1989's The Pillars of the Earth and 2007's World Without End. 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Reception 4 References Beginning in 1558, the story follows the romance between Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald over half a century. It commences at a time when Europe turns against Elizabethan England and the queen finds herself beset by plots to dethrone her. Characters Ned Willard - a Protestant, and the oldest son of a prosperous Kingsbridge family Margery Fitzgerald - a Catholic Rollo Fitzgerald - Margery's brother and avowed anti-Protestant Sylvie Palot - a Parisian Protestant Pierre Aumande - an ambitious spy Sir Francis Walsingham Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth Mary Queen of Scots Reception Bill Sheehan of The Washington Post summarises the book by commenting: "Like its predecessors in the Kingsbridge series, "A Column of Fire" is absorbing, painlessly educational and a great deal of fun. Follett uses the tools of popular fiction to great effect in these books, illuminating a nation's gradual progress toward modernity. The central theme of this latest book - the ongoing conflict between tolerance and fanaticism - lends both relevance and resonance to the slowly unfolding story of England's past." Ken Follett Kenneth Martin "Ken" Follett (born 5 June 1949) is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 150 million copies of his works. Many of his books have reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, including Edge of Eternity, Fall of Giants, A Dangerous Fortune, The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, Winter of the World, and World Without End. Follett was born on 5 June 1949 in Cardiff, Wales. He was the first child of Martin Follett, a tax inspector, and Lavinia (Veenie) Follett, who went on to have three more children. Barred from watching films and television by his Plymouth Brethren parents, he developed an early interest in reading but remained an indifferent student until he entered his teens. His family moved to London when he was ten years old, and he began applying himself to his studies at Harrow Weald Grammar School and Poole Technical College. He won admission in 1967 to University College London, where he studied philosophy and became involved in centre-left politics. He married Mary, in 1968, and their son Emanuele was born in the same year. After graduation in the autumn of 1970, Follett took a three-month post-graduate course in journalism and went to work as a trainee reporter in Cardiff on the South Wales Echo. In 1973 a daughter, Marie-Claire, was born. Early career After three years in Cardiff, he returned to London as a general-assignment reporter for the Evening News. Finding the work unchallenging, he eventually left journalism for publishing and became, by the late 1970s, deputy managing director of the small London publisher Everest Books. He also began writing fiction during evenings and weekends as a hobby. Later, he said he began writing books when he needed extra money to fix his car, and the publisher's advance a fellow journalist had been paid for a thriller was the sum required for the repairs. Success came gradually at first, but the 1978 publication of Eye of the Needle, which became an international bestseller and sold over 10 million copies, made him both wealthy and internationally famous, .