Follett, Ken

Kenneth Martin Follett (born 5 June 1949) is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 195 million copies of his works. Follett's commercial breakthrough came with the spy thriller Eye of the Needle (1978). After writing more best-sellers in the genre in the 1980s, he branched into historical fiction with The Pillars of the Earth (1989), an epic set in medieval England which became his best-known work and the first published in the Kingsbridge series. He has continued to write in both genres, including the Century Trilogy. Many of his books have achieved high ranking on bestseller lists, including the number-one position on the New York Times Best Seller list.