was a time, just over a century ago, when there were real class distinctions between the regular people and royalty, when European kings and queens married across houses and countries to solidify relationships, and when the first signs of unrest and anger in the working classes started to boil up. The problem isn't with the history. In any book that is a historical novel focused so specifically on actual events, we already know the history - it's the characters and their interactions that make the story come alive and introduce us to new perspectives about the period. The problem with Fall of Giants is that the characters are a little too thin and contrived, although believable, but they constantly interact in almost impossible ways and locations. For example, two peasant brothers in Russia are separated. One leaves on a boat thinking he is headed for America and ends up in Wales. The other remains and becomes radicalized by the growing demands for socialism. The first eventually ends up in the US, marries far above his station, and angers his father in law who ensures he is drafted. The brother that remains in Russian rises and becomes a commissar in the Army. The brother in the US is eventually sent to - you guessed it - Russia to work with the White Army and encounters his brother. If this were the only instance of incredible happenstance in the book, it could be overlooked. But all of the significant characters are constantly