by Ken Follett
ALSO BY KEN FOLLETT
The Modigliani Scandal Paper Money
Eye of the Needle Triple
The Key to Rebecca The Man from St. Petersburg On Wings of Eagles Lie Down with Lions The Pillars of the Earth Night over Water A Dangerous Fortune A Place Called Freedom The Third Twin The Hammer of Eden Code to Zero Jackdaws
Hornet Flight Whiteout
World Without End Fall of Giants
DUTTON
Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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First printing, September 2012
Copyright (c) 2012 by Ken Follett All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK--MARCA REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Follett, Ken.
Winter of the world / Ken Follett.
p. cm.--(Century trilogy ; bk. 2) ISBN 978-1-101-59143-7
1. Twentieth century--Fiction. 2. World War, 1939-1945--Fiction. 3. Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Fiction. I. Title.
PR6056.O45W56 2012
823'.914--dc23 2012004653
Map copyright (c) by David Atkinson, Hand Made Maps Ltd.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
To the memory of my grandparents,
Tom and Minnie Follett,
Arthur and Bessie Evans
CONTENTS
Also by Ken Follett
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Maps
PART ONE: THE OTHER CHEEK
CHAPTER ONE: 1933
CHAPTER TWO: 1935
CHAPTER THREE: 1936
CHAPTER FOUR: 1937
CHAPTER FIVE: 1939
PART TWO: A SEASON OF BLOOD
CHAPTER SIX: 1940 ( I )
CHAPTER SEVEN: 1940 ( II )
CHAPTER EIGHT: 1941 ( I )
CHAPTER NINE: 1941 ( II )
CHAPTER TEN: 1941 ( III )
CHAPTER ELEVEN: 1941 ( IV )
CHAPTER TWELVE: 1942 ( I )
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: 1942 ( II )
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: 1942 ( III )
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: 1943 ( I )
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: 1943 ( II )
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: 1943 ( III )
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: 1944
CHAPTER NINETEEN: 1945 ( I )
CHAPTER TWENTY: 1945 ( II )
PART THREE: THE COLD PEACE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: 1945 ( III )
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: 1946
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: 1947
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: 1948
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: 1949
Acknowledgments
About the Author
CAST OF CHARACTERS
American
DEWAR FAMILY
Senator Gus Dewar
Rosa Dewar, his wife
Woody Dewar, their elder son Chuck Dewar, their younger son Ursula Dewar, Gus's mother
PESHKOV FAMILY
Lev Peshkov
Olga Peshkov, his wife
Daisy Peshkov, their daughter Marga, Lev's mistress
Greg Peshkov, son of Lev and Marga Gladys Angelus, film star, also Lev's mistress
ROUZROKH FAMILY
Dave Rouzrokh
Joanne Rouzrokh, his daughter
BUFFALO SOCIALITES
Dot Renshaw
Charlie Farquharson
OTHERS
Joe Brekhunov, a thug
Brian Hall, union organizer Jacky Jakes, starlet
Eddie Parry, sailor, friend of Chuck Captain Vandermeier, Chuck's superior Margaret Cowdry, beautiful heiress
REAL HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
President Franklin D. Roosevelt Marguerite "Missy" LeHand, his assistant Vice President Harry Truman Cordell Hull, Secretary of State Sumner Welles, Under-Secretary of State Colonel Leslie Groves, Army Corps of Engineers English
FITZHERBERT FAMILY
Earl Fitzherbert, called Fitz Princess Bea, his wife
"Boy" Fitzherbert, Viscount Aberowen, their elder son Andy, their younger son
LECKWITH-WILLIAMS FAMILY
Ethel Leckwith (nee Williams), Member of Parliament for Aldgate Bernie Leckwith, Ethel's husband Lloyd Williams, Ethel's son, Bernie's stepson Millie Leckwith, Ethel and Bernie's daughter
OTHERS
Ruby Carter, friend of Lloyd Bing Westhampton, friend of Fitz Lindy and Lizzie Westhampton, Bing's twin daughters Jimmy Murray, son of General Murray May Murray, his sister
Marquis of Lowther, called Lowthie Naomi Avery, Millie's best friend Abe Avery, Naomi's brother
REAL HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
Ernest Bevin, M.P., Foreign Secretary German and Austrian
VON ULRICH FAMILY
Walter von Ulrich
Maud, his wife (nee Lady Maud Fitzherbert) Erik, their son
Carla, their daughter
Ada Hempel, their maid
Kurt, Ada's illegitimate son Robert von Ulrich, Walter's second cousin Jorg Schleicher, Robert's partner Rebecca Rosen, an orphan
FRANCK FAMILY
Ludwig Franck
Monika, his wife (nee Monika von der Helbard) Werner, their elder son
Frieda, their daughter
Axel, their younger son
Ritter, chauffeur
Count Konrad von der Helbard, Monika's father
ROTHMANN FAMILY
Dr. Isaac Rothmann
Hannelore Rothmann, his wife Eva, their daughter
Rudi, their son
VON KESSEL FAMILY
Gottfried von Kessel
Heinrich von Kessel, his son
GESTAPO
Commissar Thomas Macke
Inspector Kringelein, Macke's boss Reinhold Wagner
Klaus Richter
Gunther Schneider
OTHERS
Hermann Braun, Erik's best friend Sergeant Schwab, gardener Wilhelm Frunze, scientist Russian
PESHKOV FAMILY
Grigori Peshkov
Katerina, his wife
Vladimir, always called Volodya, their son Anya, their daughter
OTHERS
Zoya Vorotsyntsev, physicist Ilya Dvorkin, officer of the secret police Colonel Lemitov, Volodya's boss Colonel Bobrov, Red Army officer in Spain
REAL HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
Lavrentiy Beria, head of the secret police Vyacheslav Molotov, Foreign Minister Spanish
Teresa, literacy teacher Welsh
/> WILLIAMS FAMILY
Dai Williams, "Granda"
Cara Williams, "Grandmam"
Billy Williams, M.P. for Aberowen Dave, Billy's elder son
Keir, Billy's younger son
GRIFFITHS FAMILY
Tommy Griffiths, Billy Williams's political agent Lenny Griffiths, Tommy's son
MAPS
PART ONE
THE OTHER CHEEK
CHAPTER ONE
1933
Carla knew her parents were about to have a row. The second she walked into the kitchen she felt the hostility, like the bone-deep cold of the wind that blew through the streets of Berlin before a February snowstorm. She almost turned and walked back out again.
It was unusual for them to fight. Mostly they were affectionate--too much so. Carla cringed when they kissed in front of other people. Her friends thought it was strange: their parents did not do that. She had said that to her mother, once. Mother had laughed in a pleased way and said: "The day after our wedding, your father and I were separated by the Great War." She had been born English, though you could hardly tell. "I stayed in London while he came home to Germany and joined the army." Carla had heard this story many times, but Mother never tired of telling it. "We thought the war would last three months, but I didn't see him again for five years. All that time I longed to touch him. Now I never tire of it."
Father was just as bad. "Your mother is the cleverest woman I ever met," he had said here in the kitchen just a few days ago. "That's why I married her. It had nothing to do with . . ." He had trailed off, and Mother and he had giggled conspiratorially, as if Carla at the age of eleven knew nothing about sex. It was so embarrassing.
But once in a while they had a quarrel. Carla knew the signs. And a new one was about to erupt.
They were sitting at opposite ends of the kitchen table. Father was somberly dressed in a dark gray suit, starched white shirt, and black satin tie. He looked dapper, as always, even though his hair was receding and his waistcoat bulged a little beneath the gold watch chain. His face was frozen in an expression of false calm. Carla knew that look. He wore it when one of the family had done something that angered him.
He held in his hand a copy of the weekly magazine for which Mother worked, The Democrat. She wrote a column of political and diplomatic gossip under the name of Lady Maud. Father began to read aloud. "'Our new chancellor, Herr Adolf Hitler, made his debut in diplomatic society at President Hindenburg's reception.'"
The president was the head of state, Carla knew. He was elected, but he stood above the squabbles of day-to-day politics, acting as referee. The chancellor was the premier. Although Hitler had been made chancellor, his Nazi Party did not have an overall majority in the Reichstag--the German parliament--so, for the present, the other parties could restrain Nazi excesses.
Father spoke with distaste, as if forced to mention something repellent, like sewage. "'He looked uncomfortable in a formal tailcoat.'"
Carla's mother sipped her coffee and looked out of the window to the street, as if interested in the people hurrying to work in scarves and gloves. She, too, was pretending to be calm, but Carla knew she was just waiting for her moment.
The maid, Ada, was standing at the counter in an apron, slicing cheese. She put a plate in front of Father, but he ignored it. "'Herr Hitler was evidently charmed by Elisabeth Cerruti, the cultured wife of the Italian ambassador, in a rose-pink velvet gown trimmed with sable.'"
Mother always wrote about what people were wearing. She said it helped the reader picture them. She herself had fine clothes, but times were hard and she had not bought anything new for years. This morning she looked slim and elegant in a navy blue cashmere dress that was probably as old as Carla.
"'Signora Cerruti, who is Jewish, is a passionate Fascist, and they talked for many minutes. Did she beg Hitler to stop whipping up hatred of Jews?'" Father put the magazine down on the table with a slap.
Here it comes, Carla thought.
"You realize that will infuriate the Nazis," he said.
"I hope so," Mother said coolly. "The day they're pleased with what I write, I shall give it up."
"They're dangerous when riled."
Mother's eyes flashed anger. "Don't you dare condescend to me, Walter. I know they're dangerous--that's why I oppose them."
"I just don't see the point of making them irate."
"You attack them in the Reichstag." Father was an elected parliamentary representative for the Social Democratic Party.
"I take part in a reasoned debate."
This is typical, Carla thought. Father was logical, cautious, law-abiding. Mother had style and humor. He got his way by quiet persistence, she with charm and cheek. They would never agree.
Father added: "I don't drive the Nazis mad with fury."
"Perhaps that's because you don't do them much harm."
Father was irritated by her quick wit. His voice became louder. "And you think you damage them with jokes?"
"I mock them."
"And that's your substitute for argument."
"I believe we need both."
Father became angrier. "But, Maud, don't you see how you're putting yourself and your family at risk?"
"On the contrary. The real danger is not to mock the Nazis. What would life be like for our children if Germany became a Fascist state?"
This kind of talk made Carla feel queasy. She could not bear to hear that the family was in danger. Life must go on as it always had. She wished she could sit in this kitchen for an eternity of mornings, with her parents at opposite ends of the pine table, Ada at the counter, and her brother, Erik, thumping around upstairs, late again. Why should anything change?
She had listened to political talk every breakfast-time of her life and she thought she understood what her parents did, and how they planned to make Germany a better place for everyone. But lately they had begun to talk in a different way. They seemed to think that a terrible danger loomed, but Carla could not quite imagine what it was.
Father said: "God knows I'm doing everything I can to hold back Hitler and his mob."
"And so am I. But, when you do it, you believe you're following a sensible course." Mother's face hardened in resentment. "And when I do it, I'm accused of putting the family at risk."
"And with good reason," said Father. The row was only just getting started, but at that moment Erik came down, clattering like a horse on the stairs, and lurched into the kitchen with his school satchel swinging from his shoulder. He was thirteen, two years older than Carla, and there were unsightly black hairs sprouting from his upper lip. When they were small, Carla and Erik had played together all the time; but those days were over, and since he had grown so tall he had pretended to think she was stupid and childish. In fact she was smarter than he, and knew about a lot of things he did not understand, such as women's monthly cycles.
"What was that last tune you were playing?" he said to Mother.
The piano often woke them in the morning. It was a Steinway grand--inherited, like the house itself, from Father's parents. Mother played in the morning because, she said, she was too busy the rest of the day and too tired in the evening. This morning she had performed a Mozart sonata, then a jazz tune. "It's called 'Tiger Rag,'" she told Erik. "Do you want some cheese?"
"Jazz is decadent," Erik said.
"Don't be silly."
Ada handed Erik a plate of cheese and sliced sausage, and he began to shovel it in. Carla thought his manners were dreadful.
Father looked severe. "Who's been teaching you this nonsense, Erik?"
"Hermann Braun says that jazz isn't music, just Negroes making a noise." Hermann was Erik's best friend; his father was a member of the Nazi Party.
"Hermann should try to play it." Father looked at Mother, and his face softened. She smiled at him. He went on: "Your mother tried to teach me ragtime, many years ago, but I couldn't master the rhythm."
Mother laughed. "It was like trying to get a giraffe to r
oller-skate."
The fight was over, Carla saw with relief. She began to feel better. She took some black bread and dipped it in milk.
But now Erik wanted an argument. "Negroes are an inferior race," he said defiantly.
"I doubt that," Father said patiently. "If a Negro boy were brought up in a nice house full of books and paintings, and sent to an expensive school with good teachers, he might turn out to be smarter than you."
"That's ridiculous!" Erik protested.
Mother put in: "Don't call your father ridiculous, you foolish boy." Her tone was mild: she had used up her anger on Father. Now she just sounded wearily disappointed. "You don't know what you're talking about, and neither does Hermann Braun."
Erik said: "But the Aryan race must be superior--we rule the world!"
"Your Nazi friends don't know any history," Father said. "The Ancient Egyptians built the pyramids when Germans were living in caves. Arabs ruled the world in the Middle Ages--the Muslims were doing algebra when German princes could not write their own names. It's nothing to do with race."
Carla frowned and said: "What is it to do with, then?"
Father looked at her fondly. "That's a very good question, and you're a bright girl to ask it." She glowed with pleasure at his praise. "Civilizations rise and fall--the Chinese, the Aztecs, the Romans--but no one really knows why."
"Eat up, everyone, and put your coats on," Mother said. "It's getting late."
Father pulled his watch out of his waistcoat pocket and looked at it with raised eyebrows. "It's not late."
"I've got to take Carla to the Francks' house," Mother said. "The girls' school is closed for a day--something about repairing the furnace--so Carla's going to spend today with Frieda."
Frieda Franck was Carla's best friend. Their mothers were best friends, too. In fact, when they were young, Frieda's mother, Monika, had been in love with Father--a hilarious fact that Frieda's grandmother had revealed one day after drinking too much Sekt.
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