Recently placed in charge of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that brings fresh water to thousands of people around the bay of Naples, Roman engineer Marius Primus struggles to discover why the aqueduct has ceased delivering water and heads to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius to find the problem, only to come face to face with an impending catastrophe of mammoth proportions. Reprint.

One peaceful August day in A.D. 79, the people of Pompeii were going about their business—baking bread, eating lunch, lounging in the afternoon heat. Suddenly there was a great explosion, and tons of rock, ash, and gas were spewed into the air. Mount Vesuvius was erupting! In just 19 hours, most of the inhabitants were dead, and a layer of ash had buried the city. This is the story of what happened to the advanced city of Pompeii on that fateful day—and how we’ve learned about its people and culture thousands of years later by digging through the deadly ash.

Barry Moser's extraordinarily detailed and evocative relief engravings decorate this translation of Pliny the Younger's two famous letters to Tacitus about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder. Printed in black and white, the engravings are works of art that illustrate various descriptions in the letters. The text includes a brief description of the eruption of the volcano, concise biographies of Tacitus and of both Plinys, and a summary of how the texts of the two letters have survived until today.

Bombing Pompeii examines the circumstances under which over 160 Allied bombs hit the archaeological site of Pompeii in August and September 1943, and the wider significance of this event in the history of efforts to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones, a broader issue that is still of great importance. From detailed examinations of contemporary archival document, Nigel Pollard shows that the bomb damage to ancient Pompeii was accidental, and the bombs were aimed at road and rail routes close to the site in an urgent attempt to slow down the reinforcement and supply of German counter- attacks that threatened to defeat the Allied landings in the Gulf of Salerno. The book sets this event, along with other instances of damage and risk to cultural heritage in Italy in the Second World War, in the context of the development of the Allied Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives – the “Monuments Men.”

The book recreates the lost world of Pompeii and -- based on archaeological detective work -- discribes how Eros the steward might have lived and how he came to die in his master's house.

"Richly illustrated with historical images and new images of the site by acclaimed photographer Chris Caldicott, The Lost World of Pompeii tells the fascinating story of the ghosts of a bygone era raised from the ashes."--BOOK JACKET.