How long does it take to read The Pillars of the Earth?
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett takes about 19 hours 4 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
Book 1 of Kingsbridge
Previous: The Evening and the Morning Next: World Without End
About 19 hours 4 minutes
A long haul
First published 1989. 1,040 pages, about 286,000 words.
39 days (about 6 weeks) at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 31 hours 47 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 19 hours 4 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 11 hours 55 minutes |
The page count is the median across 111 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Welsh author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket, but focuses primarily on the Anarchy. The book traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture, and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory and village against the backdrop of historical events of the time. ---
Content warnings (AI-checked, may be incomplete)
- violence
- sexual content
- abuse
- war
Subjects: White Ship, The Anarchy, Battle of Lincoln, Anglo-Saxon law, Suspense & Thriller, epic fiction
