It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Precipice

Precipice

Summary

A WORLD ON THE BRINK OF WAR. AN AFFAIR ON THE EDGE OF SCANDAL.

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR


‘A riveting tale of politics, war and erotic obsession’ Sunday Times

‘His most enthralling yet . . . a slam dunk of a plot . . . extraordinary’ Nicholas Coleridge, Independent

‘Gripping . . . Harris also has the John le Carré gift for showing how meetings can become a form of blood sport’ Jake Kerridge, Telegraph

'Splendid' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

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.

'The king of the page-turning thriller' i Paper
'Harris's cleverness, judgment and eye for detail are second to none' Sunday Times
'Harris writes with a skill and ingenuity that few other novelists can match' Financial Times
'Harris is a master of historical fiction, a compelling author who brings to life the recent and ancient past' TLS


Robert Harris, Sunday Times bestseller, May 2024

Reviews

  • I’m not fond of the word masterpiece, but this is a masterpiece
    Nigella Lawson

About the author

Robert Harris

Robert Harris is the author of fifteen 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, The Second Sleep, V2 and Act of Oblivion. His work has been translated into forty languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more