by IainPears (Author)
Set in Provence at three different critical moments of Western Civilisation - the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Black Death in the fourteenth, and the Second World War in the twentieth - The Dream of Scipio follows the fortunes of three men: Manlius Hippomanes, a Gallic aristocrat obsessed with the preservation of Roman civilisation, Olivier de Noyen, a poet, and Julien Barneuve, an intellectual who joins the Vichy government. The story of each man is woven through the narrative, linked by the classical text that gives the book its title, and by each man's love for an extraordinary woman. Dense, dark, erudite and yet, like An Instance of the Fingerpost, utterly compelling, The Dream of Scipio confirms Iain Pears as one of Britain's most imaginative novelists.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Edition: New e.
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 03 Apr 2003
ISBN 10: 0099284588
ISBN 13: 9780099284581
Book Overview: A dark, erudite and utterly compelling novel from the author of An Instance of the Fingerpost and Stone's Fall.