Sophisticated comedy-what gives it its distinction is the quality of observation and the unusual marriage of high spirits with melancholy awareness of the passing of time

Irresistible

An acute observer of manners and styles

Here is an imagination that effortlessly brings character after character to valiant, preposterous, malevolent or desperate life. Here is a writer who deserves to be far more widely read

It has a lightness, a breadth... an impressive energy and a humane comedy... Entertaining and affecting

Why is he not spoken of in the same breath as Amis, Barnes and co? One of the best novels I have read this year

The only bad thing about this novel is that it had to end

Blazingly exciting... Harris, as Vesuvius explodes, gives full vent to his genius for thrilling narrative... pulse-rate-speeding masterpieces of suffocating suspense and searing action

Robert Harris's Pompeii is his best yet: as explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history - Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Books of the Year'

Breakneck pace, constant jeopardy and subtle twists of plot... a blazing blockbuster

Harris has done a tremendous job in evoking life in ancient Italy... I am lost in admiration at his energy and skill

The long drawn-out death agony of the two cities is brilliantly done. Explosive stuff indeed

Gripping, topical and dauntingly intelligent

A stunning novel... The subtlety and power of its construction holds our attention to the end

A whole community, buried in volcanic ash 2000 years ago, has been brought to life... Stirring and absorbing

A supremely good piece of storytelling, most impressively researched

Britain’s leading thriller writer … Explosive stuff, indeed – and yes, it goes with a bang

The depth of the research in the book is staggering … Pompeii is indeed a blazing blockbuster

The final 100 pages are terrific, as good as anything Harris has done ... Stirring and absorbing

Pompeii by Robert Harris was another triumph … put together with the skill of a craftsman

Robert Harris's Pompeii is his best yet: as explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history

McCarthy's descriptions of nature and of the everyday details of the era are vivid, surprising and true. And while the writing is often beautiful and ornate, the story has a bracing, Beckett-like severity