Ken Follett is ready to wrap up his epic fictional chronicle of Western civilization.

Viking announced Wednesday that the British authorB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Armor of LightB次元官网网址� will be published Sept. 26, concluding an eight-volume series that began in 1989 with B次元官网网址淭he Pillars of the EarthB次元官网网址� and spans 1,000 years. The new book is set in the late 18th-early 19th centuries, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and centers on the conflicts between Britain and France.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 fascinated by how people have struggled for freedom B次元官网网址� and won,B次元官网网址� Follett said in a statement. B次元官网网址淢ost of my stories are about just that. The issue underlying B次元官网网址楾he Armor of LightB次元官网网址� is freedom of speech.B次元官网网址�

FollettB次元官网网址檚 historical novels, which also include B次元官网网址淲orld Without EndB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淎 Column of Fire,B次元官网网址� have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide.

B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 plan it this way,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 just scoured the past for exciting stories that showed ordinary people coping with the changing tides of history. And then I began to see that the novels stand together as a body of work.B次元官网网址�