Jo Marchant

Jo Marchant asked Robert Harris:

Your books have wide ranging subjects and your research is clearly extensive. What is your favourite era to write about, what inspires you most and why?

Robert Harris My two favourite periods are 1933-45, and the final years of the Roman republic, 70 BC – 43 BC: I suppose because I am interested in power and ideology and those are the two eras when these forces are seen in their rawest forms. But really what inspires me is a story. I hugely enjoyed writing about late 19th century France in ‘An Officer and a Spy’.

More Answered Questions

Gerard Hogan

Gerard Hogan asked Robert Harris:

As a writer of fiction how much license do you feel you have to bend the historical record to serve the story you are telling?

Malia

Malia asked Robert Harris:

I'm a huge fan of your historical fiction - the Cicero series and An Officer and a Spy in particular - (and have converted both my parents as well;-) I'm wondering, how you decide on the subjects and historical focus of your novels? Do your decisions stem from a prior fascination with a figure or are they the development of a historical tidbit you heard of and wanted to explore further?

Emma

Emma asked Robert Harris:

If you could have been present at any event during the Roman Empire, what would it have been?

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