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Recommendations based on Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Romeby Robert Harris
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Conspirata
by Robert Harris
Historical political thriller set in ancient Rome, featuring a Senator's struggle to protect the Republic.
Cicero returns to continue his struggle to grasp supreme power in the state of Rome. Amidst treachery, vengeance, violence, and treason, this brilliant lawyer, orator, and philosopher finally reaches ... (Goodreads)
Dictator
by Robert Harris
A political thriller of a Roman dictator's rise to power and the struggles to maintain it.
The story is told through Tiro , secretary of Cicero , detailing Cicero's last fifteen years. It begins with Cicero fleeing Publius Clodius Pulcher and his mob in Rome and going into exile in ... (Wikipedia)
Pompeii
by Robert Harris
A thrilling historical fiction novel set in Pompeii, leading up to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Marcus Attilius Primus arrives in the Bay of Naples from Rome to take charge as aquarius ( hydraulic engineer ) of the Aqua Augusta , the aqueduct that supplies water to the towns in the region ... (Wikipedia)
The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco
A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.
In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)
The First Man in Rome
by Colleen McCullough
The rise of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the Roman Republic, leading to the downfall of the aristocracy.
The main plot of the novel is generally concerned with the rise of Marius, his marriage to Julia, his success in replacing Metellus as general in charge of the Numidian theatre of war, his defeat of ... (Wikipedia)
I, Claudius
by Robert Graves
An epic tale of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, told through the eyes of a dynasty's forgotten leader.
Into the 'autobiography' of Clau-Clau-Claudius, the pitiful stammerer who was destined to become Emperor in spite of himself, Graves packs the everlasting intrigues, the depravity, the bloody purges ... (Goodreads)
Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina
by Robert Graves
A historical account of the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius and his controversial wife Messalina.
With the same brilliance that characterized his classic I, Claudius , Robert Graves continues the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emperor in spite of himself and his handicaps. Claudius the ... (Goodreads)
Dissolution
by C.J. Sansom
A lawyer in Tudor England investigates a suspicious death, uncovering a vast conspiracy.
Henry VIII has ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and England is full of informers. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control with the murder of Commissioner Robin ... (Goodreads)
The Day of the Jackal
by Frederick Forsyth
An assassin attempts to kill the president of France in a thrilling race against time.
The book begins in 1962 with the (historical) failed attempt on de Gaulle 's life plotted by, among others, Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart : ... (Wikipedia)
Gates of Fire
by Steven Pressfield
Epic tale of ancient Spartan warriors on a mission of heroism and sacrifice.
The novel is narrated by Xeones, a perioikos and one of only three Greek survivors of the Battle of Thermopylae . His story is dictated to King Xerxes and transcribed by his court historian , ... (Wikipedia)
For Whom the Bell Tolls
by Ernest Hemingway
A soldier's story of courage and survival in the Spanish Civil War.
The novel graphically describes the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. It is told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of the protagonist, Robert Jordan. It draws on Hemingway's own ... (Wikipedia)
I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov
A collection of science fiction stories exploring the relationship between humans and robots.
Isaac Asimov's I, Robot launches readers on an adventure into a not-so-distant future where man and machine , struggle to redefinelife, love, and consciousness—and where the stakes are nothing less ... (Goodreads)
Chess Story
by Stefan Zweig
A chess master's attempt to regain his lost skill, and the psychological battle he faces.
The narrator opens the story on a passenger liner traveling from New York to Buenos Aires. Driven to mental anguish as the result of total isolation by the Nazis , Dr B, a securities expert hiding ... (Wikipedia)
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
A soldier's harrowing experience of the horrors of war.
The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I . The patriotic speeches of his teacher Kantorek had led the whole class to ... (Wikipedia)
The Hunt for Red October
by Tom Clancy
A thrilling adventure of a submarine captain's race against the clock in a thrilling game of cat and mouse.
During the Cold War ,(the story must be set in 1982, according to the days assigned to the dates in the novel, e.g. Dec. 17 was a Friday only in 1982,1976 and 1971 ) Marko Ramius, a Soviet Navy ... (Wikipedia)
The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro
A butler reflects on his past, grappling with the lost opportunities of a life devoted to service.
The novel tells, in first-person narration , the story of Stevens, an English butler who has dedicated his life to the loyal service of Lord Darlington (who is recently deceased, and whom Stevens ... (Wikipedia)
The House of Silk
by Anthony Horowitz
A thrilling detective story set in Victorian England, unravelling a devious criminal plot.
The House of Silk begins with a brief, personal recounting of events by Watson, much like that in, A Study in Scarlet, by the original author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The reader is informed of the ... (Wikipedia)
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
by John le Carré
A British agent's mission to infiltrate East Germany during the Cold War, full of suspense and intrigue.
In this classic, John le Carre's third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction. With unsurpassed knowledge ... (Goodreads)
Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War
by Sebastian Faulks
A poignant love story set during World War I, exploring the impact of war on human relationships and the human psyche.
Birdsong has an episodic structure, and is split into seven sections which move between three different periods of time before, during and after the war in the Stephen Wraysford plot, and three ... (Wikipedia)
Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
Exploring the possibilities of a galactic empire in a future driven by science and technology.
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future – to a dark age ... (Goodreads)
The Devil's Alternative
by Frederick Forsyth
A political thriller about a Soviet plot to blow up a British oil rig and the choices faced by the British government.
The story opens with the discovery of a castaway in the Black Sea . Recovering in hospital in Turkey , the man is visited by Andrew Drake, an Anglo-Ukrainian . The castaway, Miroslav Kaminsky, is a ... (Wikipedia)
Wool Omnibus
by Hugh Howey
Uncovering the truth behind a post-apocalyptic world, where society is hidden beneath a giant dome.
The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. , Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending one hundred forty-four stories beneath the surface. The series ... (Wikipedia)
Fall of Giants
by Ken Follett
Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.
The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)
Pyramids
by Terry Pratchett
A young pharaoh and his advisor navigate the absurdities of ancient Egypt, including camels, gods, and a pyramid-building competition.
The main character of Pyramids is Pteppic , the crown prince of the tiny kingdom of Djelibeybi (a pun on the candy Jelly Baby ,) the Discworld counterpart to Ancient Egypt . Young Pteppic has been in ... (Wikipedia)
Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson
Humanity's struggle for survival after an apocalyptic event threatens to extinguish life on Earth.
In the near future, an unknown agent causes the Moon to shatter. As the pieces begin to collide with one another, astronomer and science popularizer "Doc" Dubois Harris calculates that Moon fragments ... (Wikipedia)
Sword Song
by Bernard Cornwell
Epic saga of a Saxon warrior's struggle for survival against the invading Vikings.
Alfred, King of Wessex, has Uhtred of Bebbanburg build one of the fortified towns that make up Alfred's system of defence. After ambushing a band of raiders, Uhtred learns that two powerful Norse ... (Wikipedia)
Fever Pitch
by Nick Hornby
A humorous memoir of a man's obsession with soccer and how it shapes his life and relationships.
In America, it is soccer. But in Great Britain, it is the real football. No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. And that's before the players even take the field. Nick Hornby has been a football fan ... (Goodreads)
Carpe Jugulum
by Terry Pratchett
A vampire family moves to a small town, where a priest and his family must defend against them.
Count Magpyr and family, vampires from Überwald , are invited to the naming of Magrat and King Verence 's daughter, to be conducted by the Omnian priest, Mightily Oats. During the party after the ... (Wikipedia)
The Aeneid
by Virgil
Epic tale of Aeneas and the founding of Rome, a fateful journey through the gods.
The Aeneid – thrilling, terrifying and poignant in equal measure – has inspired centuries of artists, writers and musicians. Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his ... (Goodreads)
