Search - Pompeii

I enjoyed this book alot. It seemed to have been based on alot of factual knowledge about the times and the technology of the aqueducts. The story was engaging and kept me turning the pages! I happened to have visited the ruins at Pompeii about 8 years ago, and reading this book i could visualize the town I walked, but alive with people and commerce. I recommend this to people who enjoy historical fiction.

Pompeii is a fictional story by Robert Harris revolving around the 4 days prior to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Attilius an aqueduct engineer from Rome was sent to replace a missing engineer Exomnius for the Aqua Augusta.
Attilius arrives and is immediately faced with a plethora of natural and manmade problems revolving around the water supply. The story evolves as Attilius tries to unravel the problems with the water and the missing Exomnius. Robert Harris has written this historic fiction well grounded in the technical information from this historic period.
So this is how I like to my facts well mixed up with murder, mayhem with an explosive ending.

Fascinating historical novel. You will learn much about Roman life, engineering, and poloitics set against the eventual eruption of the Mount Vesuvius.

I really loved this book. So much information on the the city of Pompeii and how the water system worked and was all connected. It was amazing, one of the books I will re-read. A fabulous read.

This is a well-written historical thriller that takes place in Pompeii. It is about a young engineer who is given the responsibility of repairing the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to the Bay of Naples. He attempts to organize an expedition in Pompeii where he believes the fault lies. But he finds himself surrounded by corrupt soldiers in a violent town. Marcus Attilius finds there are powerful forces at work---natural and otherwise threatening to stop him and destory his work.
Great characters and plot.

This novel about an engineer sent out from Rome to check out problems on the Augustan aqueduct was a real nail-biter All the way through, you know that Vesuvius will blow and feel sure the main (somewhat cardboard) characters will survive, but the pace is thrilling, The look at Rome through the eyes of a scientist and an engineer is totally un-hackneyed. I couldn't put it down - in fact it was a borrowed book & I eventually had to track down a copy to own.