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Rare and modern books

Pears, Iain

The Dream of Scipio

Riverhead Books, 2002

40.00 €

Kalamos Books

(STREETSVILLE, Canada)

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Details

Year of publication
2002
ISBN
157322202X
Place of printing
New York
Author
Pears, Iain
Publishers
Riverhead Books
Edition
1st US Edition
Keyword
HISTORICAL FICTION ANCIENT ROME SCIPIO PROVENCE
Cover description
As New
Binding description
H
Dust jacket
Yes
State of preservation
As New
Binding
Hardcover
Inscribed
No
First edition
Yes

Description

. "May well be the best historical mystery ever written,".so brilliantly constructed, the author himself describes it as "a complexity." . the centuries are the fifth (the final days of the Roman Empire); the fourteenth (the years of the Black Death); and the twentieth (World War II). The setting for each is the same-Provence-and each has at its heart a love story. The narratives intertwine seamlessly, but what joins them thematically is an ancient text-"The Dream of Scipio"-a work of neo-Platonism that poses timeless philosophical questions. What is the obligation of the individual in a society under siege? What is the role of learning when civilization itself is threatened, whether by acts of man or nature? Does virtue lie more in engagement or in neutrality? "Power without wisdom is tyranny; wisdom without power is pointless," warns one of Pears's characters.e