whatever ken is, it is rich. 150 million sold worldwide. >> that's a lot. >> but a lot of trees. >> it'sn't being sacrificed for books these days. you're still doing extraordinarily good job. what is it about this trilogy that has captured the attention of the public so much, do you think? >> it's two things. the 20th century is the most dramatic century in the human race. >> unbelievable. >> we had the first world war, which was the most terrible human beings had ever seen. then the second, which was worse. and then we had the cold war, which if had turned into the hot war would have wiped us all out. and on top of that, it's our story. everyone around this table was born in the 20th century, and so was our parents. so the history is about what we did. >> the most blood thithirsty century. the most dramatic century. but you also talk about a common -- >> in the history from my characters to get involved in ended up as a struggle for freedom, as you say. beginning in the -- in 1914, two of my characters are suffering. so they're campaigning for votes for women. an idea which at the time