World without End

When I heard that Ken Follett had written a sort of sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, I was thrilled.

"Pillars" ranks as one of the best books I have ever read, full of danger, intrigue, suspense and fascinating details of life in the 1100s. An unscrupulous bishop unites with a vicious lord to tangle with a prior and his master builders in the fictional English town of Kingsbridge. The book held me enthralled from first page to last and still does after repeated readings.

If I had not already read "Pillars", World Without End would certainly have been more satisfying.

"World without End" is set two centuries after "Pillars of the Earth". "World" references the original book's characters, but stands alone. Just as its predecessor, "World" opens with a mystery. But unlike "Pillars", the mystery is not central to the plot.

The characters in the second book seem to be copied from Follett's first visit to Kingsbridge. The builder Merthin Bridger is a copy of the original cathedral's builder Jack Jackson. Merthin's lifelong love Caris Wooler is a copy of Jack's lifelong love Lady Aliena. The twists and turns of Merthin and Caris' love affair somewhat parallel those of Jack and Aliena's. Ralph Wigleigh, Jack and Aliena's descendant, is a copy of the villian William Hamleigh.

"Pillars" was set against the background of Stephen and Maud's battle for kingship and the lawlessness and disasters it spawned. The barons were lawless in Edward II and III's time as well, plus the Black Death slaughtered much of the population.

Still, even though I didn't like "World without End" nearly as well as I loved "Pillars of the Earth", I still recommend it.

I Like Ike

Recently I read Ike: An American Hero" by Michael Korda.


I have been interested in World War II nearly all my life. Books on the war take up several feet of my bookshelves. When I picked up this book, I wondered if I'd learn anything new about Dwight Eisenhower.

I did.

Ike was severely criticized for his management of the war in Europe. The British wanted to have a narrow thrust deep into northern Germany, while Ike favored a broad front, attacking Germany from north to south. Ike's decision was second-guessed during and after the war. Would a narrow front attack have ended the war sooner, saving thousands of lives?

Korda says no. In this decision and many others, Korda supports Ike.

He puts Ike into the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, a man who rose from humble origins to exalted leadership. Ike followed in the American military tradition of using American technology and unrivaled firepower to win wars. He followed in Grant's footsteps by seeking to destroy the enemy's military capacity, not capture cities and other geographic objectives. As Grant went after Lee's army instead of Richmond, so Ike went after Hitler's armies instead of Berlin and Prague.

One of the war's great controversies still swirls around the policy that Germany, Italy and Japan must surrender unconditionally. Korda supports this decision. At the end of World War I, Germany had not been invaded, their army command remained intact and they deposed the Kaiser themselves. Germany's complete humiliation and destruction ensured that they would have to learn to cooperate with their neighbors.

Korda also points out that Ike was in charge of the world's two greatest amphibious attacks, the one at Salerno, Italy, and the greatest of all, D-Day.

I also learned that Ike opposed using the atomic bomb on Japan. The Japanese were "already defeated" and using the bomb was unnecessary and would only "shock world opinion."

Ike had great energy, patience, common sense, and the greatest advantage of all, the ability to deal with prima donnas like Sir Bernard Montgomery, the British commander. Korda pulls no punches in describing these prima donnas.

Winston Churchill was definitely on the prima donna list. I had always thought that the British aristocracy kept up impeccable manners. This book shreds that assumption. Churchill is twice said to have had "atrocious" table manners. "… A concern for good table manners was essentially middle class or Frenchified."

I also learned more about Ike's life between the war and the presidency, but I was disappointed in the short shrift Korda gave Ike's presidential years.

Laying aside that issue, I liked "Ike" the book.

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