While Ken Follett was researching his book Fall of Giants, he came to the realisation that no one had wanted World War I to happen. And yet, through a series of seemingly sensible decisions, it had happened anyway.

And, Follet says, "What it made me think was, could it happen again? And of course, whenever I have a thought like that, my next thought is 'could I write a story about it?'"

In the Drawing Room, Follett discusses the resulting novel, Never, and what it would take, in our age of information and international diplomacy, to start a truly global conflict.