A Column of Fire

Author/Guide: Ken Follett

Why a Booktrail?

1538: What was the story behind Queen Elizabeth’s secret service, the battle between Catholicism and Protestantism during the most tumultuous time in Europe

ISBN: 978-1447278733
Genre: Historical

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What you need to know before your trail

Young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed.

The ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn by religious hatred. Europe is in turmoil and Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery Fitzgerald.

Then Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen and all of Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country’s first secret service

She knows that headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Mary has been proclaimed the rightful ruler of England, with her own supporters scheming to get rid of the new queen.

Over a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed, as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva.

Locations

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Scotland
D: Kinross - Lochleven Castle

Travel Guide

Kingsbridge

Kingsbridge is fictional yet features in three of Ken Follett’s books which make up the Kingsbridge series – The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and now A Column of Fire. On the map in the book however, you can see the direction of Gloucester and there is a Kingsbridge in Devon so this is on the BookTrail map.

There are of course many places you can visit where the real figures in history lived such as the palaces in London, The Tower of London, Westminster and parliament which played a significant role in the life and times of Elizabeth 1.

This book also takes you on a journey up to Scotland and the landscape of Mary Queen of Scots, the battles between England and Scotland and the two very strong kingdoms. The relationship between the two, and that with foreign lands saw the need for the present day secret service which Elizabeth mastered and helped develop.