"The Pillars of the Earth" was written by Ken Follett and is about the building of a cathedral in a medieval English town during the anarchy a succession crisis after the death of King Henry I. The novel follows a group of characters that are related through kinship, politics, a few random encounters, and alliances as well. The main character is Tom Builder. He and his family were forced to search for work when William Hamleigh released them from building a house. Shortly after Builder found work at Shiring Castle. Not too long after, Sharing is attacked by the Hamleighs and Tom Builder and his family are forced to leave. He and his family end up in the priory of Kingsbridge who just received a new prior, Phillip. When the cathedral in Kingsbridge burned down, Tom Builder was hired to build the new cathedral. The new prior Phillip along with the bishop of Kingsbridge make a petition to have some portions of the Shiring earldom. It was split between the Kingsbridge priory and the Hamleighs. After William Haleigh's father passes away, Richard and Aliena, Earl Bartholomews children, create another petition for the earldom to return back to them. The child Jack who joined Tom Builder when he initially lost his job, traveled to France and then to Spain in order to become better at his skill of masonry. He then returns to Kingsbridge after he completes a cathedral that was inspired by Gothic architecture in France. Kingsbridge becomes a thriving town after Aleina’s son receives the earldom and the cathedral is finished. "The Pillars of the Earth" is written in modern English but while reading you are still able to get a great sense of what time period that the book is from. If written in Anglo-Saxon or Norman French, like the characters actually spoke, the book would be a much more difficult read. Even though the book is fictional, I still got the feel that I was actually in England during the Anarchy. The characters throughout the book