Finished: Fall of Giants (Follett) The first book in an epic trilogy series about how members of five different families from England, Wales, Russia, Germany and the U.S. cross paths before, during and after the World War I years. This typically long Follet book was great, and a wonderful combination of history, politics and personal relationships. Edward "Fitz" Fitzherbert is an English nobleman who owns and lives on an estate in Wales, the land of which he licenses out to a company for the coal to be mined. Of course, the miners are the local, working-class, much poorer Welshman. Fitz is married to Russian princess, Bea, from the royal family. Her brother Andrei is a prince in Russia. Fitz's sister, Lady Maud, is 23, five years younger than Fitz, and far more liberal. She's all about speaking her mind, talking about politics, socializing with movers and shakers, and working towards the woman's right to vote in England. When Fitz throws a very important dinner party for the King of England, George V, he invites several important people to the party who become intregal players in the story. One of them is German nobleman, Walter Von Ulrich, a former classmate of Fitz's. Maud and Walter fall madly in love, but must keep their relationship a secret since neither Maud's brother, who controls all the money, or Walter's father, a bigwig in the German government would approve. Also at the party is American, Gus Dewar, a young, but super smart, Harvard educated junior advisor to President Woodrow Wilson. We are taken through the detailed events that led up to World War I, as Germany mobilized troops because Russia mobilized troops, etc. etc. Everyone blames everyone else. Walter would much rather see a peaceful solution than a war begin. He doesn't want to see a loss of life for a war that could be avoided. Mostly, though, he knows that war between Germany and England will keep him away from Maud. Fitz is all for going to war against Germany, who is bearing arms against France. Meanwhile, the Russian army, though huge, appears to be less organized and made up of so many uneducated peasants.

Speaking of Russia...we meet Grigori and Lev Peshkov, brothers who are in their young 20's who were orphaned as youngsters when first their father was executed by the father of Princess Bea and Prince Andrei for grazing his cows on the royal land! Grigori and Lev will never forget the haughty faces and attitude of Bea and Andrei as they watched Grigori and Lev's father be killed. Then, a few years later, their mother is shot down by the tsar's police as the people of Petrograd execute a peaceful march on the palace. Grigori grows up taking care of Lev, who in turn, grows up to be a charming lady's man who pretty much cares for no one but himself. He constantly gets in trouble, and just when Grigori has painstakingly saved enough money to sail to America where he can work and send for Lev, Lev commits a murder and begs Grigori to let HIM use the ticket in his place, promising he'll earn money and send for Grigori. Also, Lev leaves behind his pregnant girlfriend, who Grigori had met first and fallen in love with. Lev had charmed her into loving him instead. So, Grigori sends Lev to America and marries the girlfriend, Katrina, so she will have his army wages, and her child his name, before he is drafted into the Russian army to fight against the Germans.

Back in Wales, the Williams family consists of Ma, Da, Ethel and Billy. Ethel is twenty and works as a maid at the Fitzherbert estate. Billy is fifteen and has already been working in the mines for two years. Billy is called Billy Twice because his name is William Williams, lol. He's a really great, brave kid with loads of character, who is always shooting off his mouth to stand up for what is right, which does get him in a bit of trouble at times. Naturally, Fitz puts the moves on Ethel, and actually really falls for her. She falls for him as well and becomes pregnant. Of course, his wife, Princess Bea becomes pregnant at the same time. When Fitz breaks up with Ethel and tries to buy her off, very cheaply I might add, she plays hardball and makes him pay for a house for her in London, where she moves to have her child after being thrown out and disowned by her father. In London, Ethel works hard, has her son, Lloyd, and befriends Lady Maud, who comes down to the working class area at times to help the women and children and encourage them to stand up for women's rights.  Ethel does just that, and eventually becomes a huge voice in England's Labour Party.

As the war gets going, all of the main male players are involved: Fitz, Walter, Billy, Gus, and Grigori all end up fighting in various heartbreaking, futile battles...hoping for an end, but never seeing one. We get to see all their personalities, and to all their credit, each of them is very brave and smart during the war. Well, Fitz is not as smart, but he's certainly brave. Grigori finally leaves the Russian army, as many apparently did, and goes to join Lenin in the Russian revolution. He becomes instrumental in overthrowing the royals, only to end up in a regime that is an even worse dictatorship. Walter survives the five year war, but only sees Maud twice during those years. However, unbeknownst to their families, they are married right before the war and remain in love and faithful to each other through all those years. After the war, when Germany has lost and must concede so much, they live in much poorer circumstances than either was ever used to, since Fitz cuts off the money to Maud and Walter's progress in the German government is stagnated because he married an Englishwoman. They are happy, though, and by the story's end, have two young children. Ethel finally falls for political co-worker and by the end of the story, they have their own child as well, and are raising her nine year old son by Fitz. Fitz and Princess Bea have two sons, so an heir and a spare, which appears to be all Fitz wanted out of Bea. Billy makes it out alive and marries a friend of Ethel's who already has two children, and then they have two children of their own. Grigori raises Lev's child and then also has a daughter with Katerina. Lev, who ended up in America working for Russian mobster Joseph Vyalov, becomes Vyalov's chauffeure, but then impregnants his daughter, Olga and is forced to marry her. He loves working at his rich father-in-laws nightclubs, but he also loves the women still. When caught in an affair, Vyalov forces him to enlist in the U.S. army just as the U.S. is entering the war. Gus Deware also enlists in the military. Gus prooves to be very brave and survies the war and finds love afterwards. Lev, also survives the war, but is stationed over in Russia of all places. He allows himself to be captured by the Russians to he can meet up with his brother. He has actually saved enough money to send Grigori and his family back to America, but by now, Grigori wants to stay and be part of the Boshevik regime. Lev, doesnt' care to meet his son by Katrina, and tells Grigori he will head back to America. Grigori transports him back across the lines so he can do that. Lev ends up going back to Olga and their now four year old daughter, Daisy. He actually loves his daughter, but when it's discovered that he still has a mistress who also now has a son, he has a physical fight with his father-in-law who dies of a heart attack. As the story ends, Lev is taking over his father-in-law's business.

The entire book is very detailed and goes into the working class versus upper class struggles in England, and Russia. And, with a horrific foreshadowing, shows how the impoverishment of Germany after signing the peace treaty was one of the factors that led to Hitler coming into power with such ruthlessness, which we will see in the next book most likely. Since all of the main characters have children that are around the same age, I'm thinking book two of the trilogy will be the continuing story of them as well! :-)

Finished: One of Ours (Cather) This was the 1923 Pulitzer Prize winner, but I think I've liked other books of Willa Cather's more. It's the story of Claude Wheeler, a young man whose father is a successful Nebraska farmer, and whose mother is very religious. He is overshadowed by both his older and younger brothers, but mostly because he's unhappy with his life himself. He wants more out of life than just following in his father's farming footsteps. And, even though he's educated at college, he's not even happy with the college he attends. He envies almost every other person he meets...their ambitions, their families, their happiness, their talents. After Claude realizes that his fate is to run the family farm, he finally convinces a childhood sweetheart to marry him. He becomes disillusioned, however, when his wife is more interested in charity and mission work than in him. When she leaves for China to help her ailing missionary sister, Claude enlists in the army and heads for World War I in  Europe. His family has been following the war closely and he feels that maybe he will find purpose in his life after all by going to help fight the Germans. Claude DOES find purpose. He feels alive for the first time...but he still envies most of the other soldiers he meets. He becomes best friends with David Gerhardt, who was a former violinist. Claude is envious of David's musical talent and resents that he was never given the opportunity to learn something outside of farming. However, he still admires and respects his friends. Towards the end of the book, Claude's unit is sent to fight in a particularly bad location, in some trenches that had been occupied by the Germans. He has fallen in love with France and the people there, and thinks he will probably live here instead of going back home. He never gets the chance, though, as both he and David fight bravely and are both killed in action trying to keep the Germans from retaking the trench. I didn't become particularly attached to Claude since I didn't really relate to any of his angst. However, Willa Cather is a good writer, so I enjoyed the book somewhat...just not as much as a few of her others. :-)