All along the Mediterranean coast, the Roman empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas, enjoying the last days of summer. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii.

But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’s sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland , re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.

From the Hardcover edition.

羅伯特·哈裏斯，英國最重量級暢銷小說，一九五七年齣生於英國諾丁漢，畢業於劍橋大學。他曾擔任英國廣播公司（BBC）記者、《觀察者報》編輯、《星期日泰晤士報》和《每日電訊報》專欄作傢。二00三年曾獲得英國新聞奬，英國新聞奬被公認為英語新聞業的奧斯卡，是英國新聞業者的最高榮譽。 他自一九九三年開始小說創作，作品包括長篇小說《祖國》、《謎》、《大天使》、《龐貝》和《帝國》以及五部非小說著作。其中《大天使》、《謎》都曾被改拍成電影，他本人也曾參與多部電影的編劇及製作。著名導演羅曼·波蘭斯基對他的作品推崇備至。