Contrary to what I may have said on Saturday night when I didn't have the rest of the paragraph, I actually prefer the second. I like the way it repeats itself with the "it began with..." statement.

However, bearing in mind comments others have made, I would add this caveat: prose would need to be very cluttered for me to notice, as most of my reading on a day-to-day basis is statute law and terms and conditions of contracts with sentences of about 60 words!