Pompeii cover art

Pompeii

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Pompeii

By: Robert Harris
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

A sweltering week in late August. Where better to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples? All along the coast, the Roman Empire's richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas. The world's largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii. Only one man is worried.

The engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct which brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. His predecessor has disappeared. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line - somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius - decent, practical, incorruptible - promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces which even the world's only superpower can't control. Pompeii recreates in spellbinding detail one of the most famous natural disasters of all time. And by focusing on the characters of an engineer and a scientist, it offers an entirely original perspective on the Roman world.

©2003 Robert Harris (P)2014 AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks
Historical Fiction Fiction

What listeners say about Pompeii

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    73
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    73
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    73
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great story and performance

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it, especially the ending.

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

SUPERB

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous

Great history and story well worth listening to . Loved hearing about the Roman engineering and lives of the people

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A terrific story beautifully performed

I can’t remember a book so vividly described as this and so beautifully read. To describe a bursting volcano and the destruction of the cities and landscape is no mean feat, and characters also are well drawn. It’s a pity that Polanski wasn’t able to make the film.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not revisited, but re-enacted

With his usual accuracy of detail and skill in storytelling, Robert Harris has allowed us to enter into what was one of the most horrendous and mind-altering events of Roman history. People of our century know Pompeii as a faintly gruesome historic tourist destination; Harris peoples it with inhabitants like us. His use of scientific volcanic quotations and facts about water engineering is both fascinating and informative. Steven Pacey’s reading of the story is excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

A gripping story line that brings history to life. A great insight into the culture of the day.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Roman history, vulcanology, and a damned fine tale...

What’s not to like. Robert Harris’ Pompeii rates with Lindsey Davis’ Falco series from an insight into the Roman world. Great narrator- five stars!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Top class

This is very solid historical fiction. Well researched and entertaining. I learned a lot more than I knew about volcanoes, and about Pompeii, even though I'd been there. eg. I had no idea that some people survived, or what actually happens in an eruption. I'll be reading more from this author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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.