The Dream of ScipioThe Dream of Scipio, Iain Pears' first mainstream novel since An Instance of the Fingerpost, is a work of ambition that appeals equally to the head and the heart. It is set in Provence at three different critical moments of Western Civilisation the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Black Death in the 14th, and the Second World War in the 20th and follows the fortunes of three men, Manlius Hippomenes, a Gallic aristocrat obsessed

middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students

She became one of the greatest blues singers the city had ever known - only to lose it all after being convicted of murdering her lover and producer

he is expected to apologise and repent in an effort to save his job

From the bestselling author

The book includes a wonderful new story by Philip Pullman

benign yet accustomed to power

decides to find out

loyal to the Mahdi

he has created a quiet

where he meets up with the Resistance fighters

desire and drama The Cold War is over and retired secret servant Tim Cranmer has been put out to pasture

Angeles is right - she is being stalked