The Pillars of the Earth

This was a book by Ken Follet that came out some time ago.  It's been given a second look because Follet recently published a sequel to it.

The book follows the lives of four people and centers around the construction of a cathedral in England.  It has a  lot of political intrigue as it is set in a time when the succession to the English throne is in doubt and these people find themselves tossed by the ebbs and flows of power at the top.  The book is epic in scope and follows these people through out their lives, which is marked out by the construction of the cathedral.

If you like your history flavored with a good dash of actual history, this is a good choice.  It's in paper back, but it's around 900 pages long so it's not a book you can bang out in a few days of light reading.  However the pace never lags and it will keep you turning pages.  For 8 bucks it's a good read.