Follett surprised his readers with his first non-spy thriller, "The Pillars of the Earth" (1989), a novel about building a cathedral in a small English village during the Anarchy in the 12th century. The novel was highly successful, received positive reviews and was on the "New York Times" Best Seller list for 18 weeks. It topped best-seller lists in Canada, Britain and Italy, and was on the German best-seller list for six years. It has sold 26 million copies so far. On 16 August 2017, it was published as a computer game adaptation by German developer and publisher Daedalic Entertainment.