Born: 1949, Cardiff, WalesLives: Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England
Ken Follett was born in Cardiff and studied philosophy at University College London, graduating in 1970. He started as a trainee reporter at the South Wales Echo, then worked for the Evening News in London and later at the publisher Everest Books.
His first major bestseller was the spy thriller Eye of the Needle (1978). In 1989 he published The Pillars of the Earth, which began the Kingsbridge series, and he later wrote the Century Trilogy. He lives in Knebworth, Hertfordshire.