Two hundred years after construction of the great cathedral in Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett’s World Without End picks up with a new cast of characters as they fight for survival amidst natural disaster, plague, and war. The tale begins in the 14th century with a civil war in England. Queen Isabella deposes her husband, Edward II, secretly ordering him killed, and installs their son, Edward III, on the throne. Thomas Langley, a knight involved in the plot, flees; wounded by the Queen’s men, he finds sanctuary in the Kingsbridge priory.