Pompeii

The most famous catastrophe in human history—the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the city of Pompeii and its surroundings. Robert Harris’s novel “Pompeii” is a cinematic, vivid portrayal of tragedy, a living reconstruction of the townspeople’s everyday life cut short by fiery streams from the sky. Harris’s novel abounds in historical facts, but it isn’t a dry study for professionals—it’s an incredibly captivating historical detective story. The tale begins when the new imperial supervisor of waterworks, Mark Attilius Primus, tries to figure out what happened to his predecessor—and why the largest aqueduct has stopped working…