NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ken Follett is ready to wrap up his epic fictional chronicle of Western civilization.
Viking announced Wednesday that the British author's 鈥淭he Armor of Light" will be published Sept. 26, concluding an eight-volume series that began in 1989 with 鈥淭he Pillars of the Earth鈥� and spans 1,000 years. The new book is set in the late 18th-early 19th centuries, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and centers on the conflicts between Britain and France.
鈥淚鈥檓 fascinated by how people have struggled for freedom 鈥� and won," Follett said in a statement. "Most of my stories are about just that. The issue underlying 'The Armor of Light鈥� is freedom of speech.鈥�
Follett's historical novels, which also include 鈥淲orld Without End鈥� and 鈥淎 Column of Fire,鈥� have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 plan it this way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just scoured the past for exciting stories that showed ordinary people coping with the changing tides of history. And then I began to see that the novels stand together as a body of work."
The Associated Press
