The Pillars of the Earth is a piece of fantasy loosely based on the plot of a Ken Follet novel. There's more than enough (moderate-strong) sex, violence and strong language to reduce the whole series to little more than an historical romp at times. The market for this DVD is definitely aimed at those of us who enjoy TV drama such as The Tudors. The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1), Ken Follett The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Welsh author Ken Follett, published in 1989, about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. With Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell. Set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.

The Pillars of the Earth Hover over the thumbnail for a full-size version. Author: martineitor: Tags: author:martineitor dedicated jumper playable puzzle unrated: Created: 2008-07-15: Last Modified: 2008-07-15: Rating: 5 more votes required for a rating. The Pillars of the Earth (TV Mini-Series 2010) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

World Without End
Author	Ken Follett
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Historical fiction
Published	9 October 2007 (Penguin) (US edition)
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	1024 (Paperback, US edition)
ISBN	0-525-95007-9 (Hardback, US edition)
Preceded by	The Pillars of the Earth
Followed by	A Column of Fire^[1]

World Without End is a best-selling 2007 novel by Welsh author Ken Follett. It is the second book in the Kingsbridge Series, and is the sequel to 1989's The Pillars of the Earth.

World Without End takes place in the same fictional town as Pillars of the Earth — Kingsbridge — and features the descendants of some Pillars characters 157 years later.^[2] The plot incorporates two major historical events, the start of the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death.^[3] The author was inspired by real historical events relating to the Cathedral of Santa María in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

A television miniseries based on the novel aired worldwide in 2012. It premiered on Showcase in Canada on 4 September 2012; in the United States on Reelz Channel on 17 October 2012; on Channel 4 in the UK on 22 December, and on Star Movies in the Philippines in January 2013. The eight-part television event miniseries stars Cynthia Nixon, Miranda Richardson, Peter Firth, Ben Chaplin, Charlotte Riley, Sarah Gadon and Tom Weston-Jones. It was directed by Michael Caton-Jones who also directed the historical epic Rob Roy.

Plot summary[edit]

The novel begins in the fictional city of Kingsbridge, England in the year 1327. Four children - Merthin, Caris, Gwenda, and Merthin's brother Ralph - head into the woods on All Hallows Day. Together the children witness two men-at-arms killed in self-defence by Sir Thomas Langley, aided by Ralph. The children then flee, with the exception of Merthin, who helps the wounded Sir Thomas bury a letter with instructions to dig up and deliver it if and when Sir Thomas should die. After this Sir Thomas flees to Kingsbridge and seeks refuge in the monastery, becoming a Benedictine monk, while the four children swear never to speak of what they saw.

During mass at All Hallows, Gwenda is forced by her father to steal the money that Sir Gerald was supposed to use to pay his debts to Kingsbridge Priory. Forced to default on these debts he is disgraced, his property confiscated and he and his wife are left as pensioners to the Priory. This disgrace drives their sons Merthin and Ralph to seek to regain the family's fortune and honour. Ralph is accepted as a squire under the Earl of Shiring, while Merthin is pushed to the far less prestigious role of apprenticing himself as a carpenter.

Ten years later, in 1337, Caris and Merthin are in love. When a section of the vault of the Kingsbridge Cathedral collapses Merthin, now an apprentice carpenter, shows his genius by developing a cheaper means of repair than his master. Dll reader and editor.

Ralph, now a squire to Earl Roland of Shiring, provokes a fight and has his nose broken by a handsome peasant from Gwenda's village named Wulfric, for whom Gwenda has a hopeless infatuation. Gwenda is sold for a cow by her father to be prostituted at an outlaws' camp. She kills one of the outlaws while he is raping her, and escapes. She is followed by her buyer, but is able to drown him when the Kingsbridge bridge collapses, a tragedy that kills many, including all of Wulfric's immediate family and Prior Anthony of Kingsbridge (at the hands of Godwyn's mother). In the midst of the disaster Ralph saves Earl Roland's life and is rewarded with the lordship of Gwenda's village of Wigleigh.

Gwenda and Wulfric return to Wigleigh and attempt to gain Wulfric the inheritance of his father's land. The inheritance is eventually denied by Ralph because of the grudge he bears against Wulfric. Due to his poor prospects, Wulfric's beautiful wife-to-be, Annet, leaves him. By months of intensively showing Wulfric her love and devotion, Gwenda finally wins his love and they marry. Gwenda then tries to win Wulfric back his lands by having sex with Ralph, but Ralph does not uphold his end of the deal. Gwenda's first son, Sam, is conceived through this liaison.

Ralph, as lord, is merciless and brutal, and he winds up raping Annet as well. Wulfric does not permit this outrage to go unpunished, and lodges a complaint against Ralph with the Earl on her behalf; though English law of the time forbids rape regardless of the perpetrator's social status, it is very risky for peasants to sue their lord. Gwenda, despite her consternation at her husband's defence of his former sweetheart, helps by interceding with Lady Philippa about Ralph's case. Thanks to her intervention, Ralph is convicted of rape and is sentenced to hang, but with the Earl Roland's connivance, he manages to escape and becomes an outlaw. After robbing and murdering many people on the road to Kingsbridge, he is eventually captured with Merthin's help, and is once again set for execution, but since the king has declared war on France (launching the Hundred Years' War in May 1337) he is granted a royal pardon on condition that he fight in the war (in 1339, when Edward invades northeast France).

Meanwhile, the monastery's Sacrist, Godwyn, a nephew of Prior Anthony, outwits his opponents and wins the priory election in an overwhelming victory. Godwyn claims to be a reformer, but turns out to be even more conservative and quickly begins to clash with the townspeopl on a number of issues, including the funding and building of a fabulous new bridge designed by Merthin and permitting the townspeople to full wool for a growing fabric industry. Caris, who becomes the de facto alderman, is a particular problem, leading the campaign to get for Kingsbridge the status of a Royal Borough and emancipate the townspeople from the Priory's control. Despite being her cousin, Godwyn charges Caris with witchcraft hoping to have her executed to get her out of the way. To escape execution, Caris agrees to join the Kingsbridge nunnery. With his planned marriage to Caris thus denied, Merthin leaves Kingsbridge for Florence, Italy to pursue his building career. He becomes a highly successful and rich architect, and after hearing that Caris had taken nun's vows he marries Sofia, the daughter of one of his Italian clients.

Eight years later (in 1346), Godwyn steals money from the substantially more profitable nuns in order to build for himself a luxurious palace. In July 1346, Caris seeks to petition the bishop to redress this theft. However, by this time the bishop has left for France with King Edward III. Caris travels to France with Mair, an attractive nun from the convent who has romantic feelings for Caris; during their travels they start an intimate relationship, although Caris feels guilty that she still cares mo

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