Cover of The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett, 1989

French and British novelist, born 1949.

The Pillars of the Earth is a 1989 novel by Ken Follett.

  • Readers' Favourite

In historical fiction

On 3 of the 20 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Ken Follett
First published
1989
Length
1104 pages (UK paperback)
Genre
Historical fiction, Adventure, Religion and faith, Class and society
Series
Book 1 of Kingsbridge

Is The Pillars of the Earth worth reading?

3 of the 20 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them The Big Read top 100 (BBC) and Oprah's Book Club picks.

ListPlaceOriginal
Oprah's Book Club picks (Oprah's Book Club, 1996-)ListedSee the list
The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003)No. 33See the list
The Great American Read (PBS, 2018)ListedSee the list

Best edition of The Pillars of the Earth

The edition we link to is the Pan paperback (2010), 1104 pages.

Publisher
Pan (paperback, 2010)
Pages
1104
ISBN
9780330534925

How critics, prizes and readers rate The Pillars of the Earth

Readers rate it most highly: it earned 43% of the points available on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 0% on critics' lists and 0% on prize lists.

Critics
0%
Prizes
0%
Readers and booksellers
43%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like The Pillars of the Earth

If you liked The Pillars of the Earth, try The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22 or Wolf Hall.

Lists used on this page