Book excerpt: Ken Follett and the intrigue of World War II—"a winning formula" (Entertainment Weekly) if ever there was one. With his riveting prose and unerring instinct for suspense, the #1 New York Times bestselling author takes to the skies over Europe during the early days of the war in a most extraordinary novel. . . . It is June 1941, and the war is not going well for England. Somehow, the Germans are anticipating the RAF's flight paths and shooting down British bombers with impunity. Meanwhile, across the North Sea, eighteen-year-old Harald Olufsen takes a shortcut on the German-occupied Danish island of Sande and discovers an astonishing sight. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows he must tell someone. And when he learns the truth, it will fall upon him to deliver word to England—except that he has no way to get there. He has only an old derelict Hornet Moth biplane rusting away in a ruined church—a plane so decrepit that it is unlikely to ever get off the ground . . . even if Harald knew how to fly it. Look out for Ken's newest book, A Column of Fire, available now.