Pompeii cover art

Pompeii

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Pompeii

By: Robert Harris
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $16.83

Buy Now for $16.83

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

During a sweltering week in late August, as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world - the mighty Aqua Augusta - has suddenly ceased to flow . . .

Through the eyes of four characters - a young engineer, an adolescent girl, a corrupt millionaire and an elderly scientist - Robert Harris brilliantly recreates a luxurious world on the brink of destruction.

'A pulse-rate-speeding masterpiece' Sunday Times
'Stunning . . . its subtlety and power holds your attention to the end' The Times
'As explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history' Daily Telegraph

© Robert Harris 2003 (P) Penguin Audio 2014

 Historical Fiction Fiction Thought-Provoking

Critic Reviews

Harris is a writer of integrity who does not seek refuge in postmodernist nonsense...He knows how to tell a story and achieves page-turningreadability without effort.
Explosive stuff, indeed - and, yes, it goes with a bang.
The depth of research in this book is staggering...Pompeii is indeed a blazing blockbuster.
It is hard to imagine a more thorough-goingly enjoyable thriller read
Harris had me imaginatively surrounded. I am lost in admiration at his energy and skill
Since The Usual Suspects, novels and movies have become obsessed with the trick ending but .Insolently resisting this trend Harris has brought off a known-ending story
A sophisticated thriller that takes in its stride the conventions of the historical novel, Pompeii deserves the place it will undoubtedly have at the top of the bestseller list.
Blazingly exciting... Harris, as Vesuvius explodes, gives full vent to his genius for thrilling narrative... pulse-rate-speeding masterpieces of suffocating suspense and searing action
Robert Harris's Pompeii is his best yet: as explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history - Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Books of the Year'
Breakneck pace, constant jeopardy and subtle twists of plot... a blazing blockbuster
All stars
Most relevant
Loved this historical novel.Lots of detail and humour thrown in too.I would recommend this as a very entertaining listen .The narration was very good

A great story and performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story woven into the historical eruption of 79 AD. Excellent use of the Aquarius to tell the story via the affects on the water supply . I was surprised by the reader pronouncing the historian Cicero with a K sound but apparently in that historic period that was how it was pronounced. Full marks for accuracy. It is only in more modern times that we pronounce it with an S sound. Great story follows the eruption and the attempted assistance by Pliny the Elder. Recommended highly.

Great Title

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I got lost a few times through the book as a it drifted between characters m but was still able to keep up and thoroughly enjoyed the book. Ending was fantastic.

Loved it, especially the ending.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This fictional tale of the last hours before Vesuvius blew its fatal top was the best I’ve ever read. The storyline was just as I have imagined and the narration was perfect for this

SUPERB

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having always been fascinated by and eventually visiting Pompeii, this story is a fascinating perspective of imagination, primary and secondary sources. The descriptions and story line with a known outcome are entertaining.

Brilliant!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.