Ken Follett

“The wonderful cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the greatest achievements of European civilization, was on fire. The sight dazed and disturbed us profoundly. I was on the edge of tears. Something priceless was dying in front of our eyes. The feeling was bewildering, as if the earth was shaking.” —Ken Follett
“[A] treasure of a book.” —The New Yorker
In this short, spellbinding book,...

Albert Spaggiari engineered the European crime of the century-a 1976 bank heist accomplished, as a note left in the empty vault said, "Without guns, without violence, without hate". He and his 20 men had dug a 25 foot tunnel from the city sewer system into the back, where they spent a weekend cooking meals, drinking wine and clearing out a total of $8 to $10 million in gold, jewelry, gems and cash reserves. Tracked down and captured, Spaggiari

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Caught in the maelstrom are Augusta Pilaster, the raven-haired matriarch, strong-willed and sly, ever plotting to advance herself or her spoiled son, Edward, and gain control of Pilasters, the mighty bank that bears their name ... Solly Greenbourne, the rich Jewish heir to Greenbournes - the only bank to rival Pilasters in power and prestige - who must battle the dirty stain of anti-Semitism in a still-intolerant nation ... Maise Robinson, the beautiful...

In the town of Kingsbridge during the middle of the twelfth century, the lives of those who are working to build the most amazing Gothic cathedral in the world become entwined through their ambitions, loves, and tribulations. At once, this is a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age.