Pompeii

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With trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris recreates a world on the brink of disaster. Along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman Empire’s wealthiest citizens enjoy the last days of summer in luxurious villas, while the largest navy lies peacefully anchored in Misenum. Tourists flock to the resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, unaware of the impending cataclysm. Only one man is concerned: young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus, newly in charge of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct supplying fresh water to a quarter of a million people. His predecessor has vanished, and for the first time in generations, springs are failing. A crisis looms on the aqueduct’s sixty-mile main line, north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Attilius, decent and incorruptible, assures Pliny, the renowned scholar commanding the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. He plans to travel to Pompeii to assemble an expedition and locate the fault. However, Pompeii reveals itself as a corrupt and violent town, where powerful forces—both natural and man-made—threaten to destroy him. Harris masterfully captures the tension and stakes in this vivid historical setting.