Robert Harris
About this episode
Robert Harris discusses his new novel 'Agrippa', set in Ancient Rome, exploring the life of Agrippa and his relationship with Augustus Caesar.
Robert Harris returns to Books Of The Year to chat about his new novel, 'Agrippa'. The book sees Robert return to Ancient Rome, to tell the fictionalised memoir of Agrippa - one of Augustus Caesar's great friends and top generals. They chat about why Robert decided to return to this time, 10 years after the last novel he set here - and what inspired him to write about a soldier who did so much during his life, but who is not very well known. Robert is a master storyteller and this novel is another brilliant page-turner, which is also full of fascinating facts. Here's a little more about the book: Julius Caesar is dead, and the lives of two teenaged boys are about to be changed forever. One is Caesar’s 17-year-old nephew, Octavius, whom he has made his heir. The other is Octavius’s closest friend, Agrippa. To claim Octavius’s inheritance, they must fight the giant figures of the Roman Empire – and, against all odds, they win. Octavius becomes the Emperor Augustus. For twenty years, they rule the world together. Now Agrippa is fifty. Ailing and alone, betrayed by his wife’s infidelity, he takes refuge in his house on the Bay of Naples and begins to write his memoirs. Yet to stir up…
People in this episode
Host: Simon Mayo
Guest: Robert Harris
Topics covered
- historical fiction
- Ancient Rome
- memoirs
- storytelling
- military history
Keywords
- Robert Harris
- Agrippa
- Ancient Rome
- memoirs
- historical fiction
- Augustus Caesar
- Julius Caesar
- military history
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Agrippa
Places: Bay of Naples, Roman Empire
More episodes of Simon Mayo's Books of the Year
- Robert Harris Q&A
- David Baldacci Q&A
- David Baldacci
- Chris Chibnall Q&A
- Chris Chibnall
- Elizabeth Strout Q&A
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