The novel's characters become involved in a number of the most significant global events during the period, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the British Invasion, the Kennedy Administration, the Watergate scandal, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Characters in East Berlin and Moscow work (under five different Soviet leaders), subtly at first and then more overtly, to bring about the start of the fall of Communism.

[1] The Historical Novel Society reviewer Viviane Crystal describes this skilled character development as what saves the novel from being "a skimming of the surface of history" is that the "set of characters [...] live and engage in all these events over the years, with romance, terror, frustration, determination, fury and celebration.

Critic Steve Novak for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that "Reading any 1,100-page book is a chore, but if you stay with “Edge of Eternity,” Mr. Follett’s characters just might grow on you.

"[1] Publishers of Weekly described the novel as the "mesmerizing final installment is an exhaustive but rewarding reading experience dense in thematic heft, yet flowing with spicy, expertly paced melodrama, character-rich exploits, familial histrionics, and international intrigue.