The Dream Of Scipio

The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears Three narratives set in
the fifth fourteenth and twentieth centuries all revolving
around an ancient text and each with a love story at its
center are the elements of this ingenious novel a
follow-up to the bestselling An Instance Of The
Fingerpost. 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 Pearss characters.