Iain Pears' The Dream of Scipio

When I switched blog templates a while ago, I had neglected to save the book links, but figured I would start new ones. Here is the first—the link to the book is on the lower right sidebar.

I just finished and really enjoyed Iain Pears’ The Dream of Scipio, which follows three different characters in three different time periods, all in the same part of Provence. The link is that each sees himself as fighting for the protection of civilization—one as the Roman Empire is under assault in the 5th century, the next in the time of the Black Death (14th century), and the last under German occupation in WWII. Each also struggles to convince those around him that his strategy for combating barbarism (and anti-Semitism, which is another theme) will be the most effective. Despite these very different scenes, I found the narrative very smooth.