With themes of love, deception, rivalry and grand world events, this will be our biggest paperback campaign yet
THE BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE TIMES, INDEPENDENT, SPECTATOR, i NEWS
A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘A riveting tale of politics, war and erotic obsession’ Sunday Times
‘A slam dunk of a plot . . . extraordinary’ Nicholas Coleridge, Independent
Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe.
In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley – aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless – is having a love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.
As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer is assigned to investigate a leak of top secret documents – and suddenly what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that will alter the course of political history.
Seamlessly weaving fact and fiction in a way that no writer does better, Precipice is the thrilling new novel from Robert Harris.
About the Author
Robert Harris is the author of thirteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich and The Second Sleep. Several of his books have been filmed, including The Ghost, which was directed by Roman Polanski. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby. His next book, V2, is coming out in autumn 2020.
Industry Reviews
Brilliantly blurring fact and fiction, Sunday Times bestselling author Robert Harris is back in full force
— Dead Good Books - The best crime and thriller books of 2024
I’m not fond of the word masterpiece, but this is a masterpiece
— Nigella Lawson
Fans of this hugely popular author should lap up this tale that mixes fact with fiction, as is his trademark
— Sunday Express - Best Summer Reads
Gripping drama
— Jake Kerridge, Telegraph
'A beautifully crafted novel . . . a dexterous blend of the political and the personal . . . Precipice is Robert Harris's 16th novel, and there hasn’t been a dud among them'
— Allan Massie, The Scotsman
Precipice hones in on those vital summer days when Britain hovered on the brink of war, before plunging into the abyss that arguably destroyed European civilisation
— Spectator
