I gave this book 4 stars because the protagonist (Marcus Attilius Primus) and I share the same profession - that of being a civil engineer. I was fascinated by the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that brought fresh water to people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples including Pompeii.True, we all at l...
A historical fiction, looking at the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius from the eyes of an engineer, Marcus Attilius.It's kind of a mystery (but hard to really think of as a mystery since all of us know what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum) that the engineer gets to piece together after trying to discove...
Rounding up from 3.5. The first half is a little dry with its emphasis on Roman Engineering and maintenance of the aqueducts. Certainly they were (are) an engineering marvel but for me it didn't make for a gripping story. Once past that part when the human side of the story kicks in the book pick...
This is an amazingly researched book about Pompeii and it's surrounding cities, set two days before the famous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The protagonist is engineer Attilius, newly in charge of the Aqua Augusta (the aqueduct that brings water to the landlocked cities in the Bay of Naples). I can't r...
Bought at Rome airport March 2010 for M's birthday.Discussion points that raised their heads during M's reading, so that I can contrast when I finally get my hands on it:- plot spoilers for this story are everywhere- when those plot spoilers are ignored, Iceland is reminding us very subtlety.- M is ...
Excellent! I've been to Pompeii, but had I read this before I went it would have held much more meaning...I suppose I would have had a better idea of what I was looking at, and how it might have felt to be there when Vesuvius blew its top. I guess I'll just have to go again!
This book was really hard for me to get into...I enjoy reading about different disasters and thought that it would be easy to read about. But the names and the language was hard for me to wrap my head around. It got better about halfway through the book (though honestly I don't think they said or d...
Important: Our sites use cookies.
We use the information stored using cookies and similar technologies for advertising and statistics purposes.
Stored data allow us to tailor the websites to individual user's interests.
Cookies may be also used by third parties cooperating with BookLikes, like advertisers, research companies and providers of multimedia applications.
You can choose how cookies are handled by your device via your browser settings.
If you choose not to receive cookies at any time, BookLikes will not function properly and certain services will not be provided.
For more information, please go to our Privacy Policy.
Log in with Facebook 
