Ken Follett: A Column of Fire

A Kingsbridge trilógia harmadik része,   

Ken Follett: A Column of Fire  - 885 oldal.

értékelés, szerintem:  ★★★★☆


Kevesebb Kingsbridge, több történelem, de tetszett.

"Christmas 1558, and 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 as high principles clash bloodily with friendship, loya lty and love, 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 to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions and invasion plans. Elizabeth knows that alluring, headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Part of a brutally ambitious French family, 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. With Elizabeth clinging precariously to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents, it becomes clear that the real enemies - then as now - are not the rival religions. The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else - no matter the cost."

"royal children enjoyed every good thing in life, except freedom"

"Might there come a time, when people of different faiths did not kill one another?"

"The simple idea that people should be allowed to worship as they wished caused more suffering than the ten plagues of Egypt."

"Most men treated their wives like children, the only difference being that women could work harder. Perhaps there were men somewhere who did not regard wives as property, but she had never met one." 

"In a crisis, frightened people would obey anyone who sounded as if they knew what they were doing."

"His mother urged him to keep his doubts to himself, but he could not: he was seventeen, and for him right was right and wrong was wrong."

"English people were illogical about foreigners, Ned found: they hated Turks, and they believed Jews were evil, but they regarded Africans as harmlessly exotic."

"Roger's welfare was more important than Ned's: that was what it meant to be a parent."

"there are no saints in politics, but imperfect people can make the world a better place"

"The curch was Catholic, and Ned was Protestant, but he had long believed that God cared little about such distinctions."

"A child will always be what he is, she thought, and not what you want him to be."