Precipice

Nick Day's Review 

It’s the summer of 1914 – the eve of the First World War - and Venetia Stanley is part of the ‘Coterie’, a group of young, reckless British aristocrats. She is bored and detached from life. Enter the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, whose 20-year-old second marriage is not going well. Prime minister for 6 years, he has fallen for the young Venetia Stanley. Venetia in turn is beguiled by his eminence. 

In this clever blend of fact and fiction, Harris uses the stream of letters between Asquith and Stanley – he sometimes wrote to her to three times a day - to weave a compelling story about the politics of the day. Asquith’s unexpected disclosure of classified intel to his lover is a historical fact, and is complemented by Harris' meticulous research into the telegrams, newspaper reports and official documents of the day.

Against this backdrop we meet the intelligence officer, Paul Deemer (the only fictional character in the book). Deemer is tasked with finding the source of certain leaked classified documents from the British Government. As the war progresses, the matter becomes a threat to national security, with Deemer closing in on these treasonous acts.

The dialogue between Asquith and Stanley provides an intriguing insight into the machinations of the beginning of the First World War. Their letters document the events that begin with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, and encompass the political struggles of Winston Churchill, the disastrous Dardanelles-Gallipoli Campaign, and the numerous government scandals during wartime. This chain of events ultimately leads in 1916 to the formation of the war coalition that culminated in the ousting of Asquith as prime minister.

Precipice is a riveting, politically charged read. It asks us to question whether Asquith was too slow in concluding that Britain should intervene in the First World War. Was he, perhaps, too distracted by Venetia Stanley? Even more disturbingly, if not for this affair between the country’s leader and a beautiful young socialite, would the First World War have ever happened?

Publisher's Review 

A masterpiece from the bestselling author with our biggest and most ambitious campaign yet from the SUNDAY TIMES number one bestselling author. 

Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe.

In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley - aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless - is having a love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.

As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer is assigned to investigate a leak of top secret documents - and suddenly what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that will alter the course of political history.

Seamlessly weaving fact and fiction in a way that no writer does better, Precipice is the thrilling new novel from Robert Harris.