The almost unbelievable fact that the letters written between the PM H H Asquith and Venetia Stanley form the core of this enthralling tale of events around the beginning and early events of WW1. Full of historical figures including Churchill, Lloyd George, Kitchener and many more the clever insertion of an investigation by the Secret Service keeps the story never less than fascinating. Superb.

Summer 1914. In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley is part of an aristocratic group who like to party but she has a secret – she 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, Paul Deemer a young intelligence officer is assigned to investigate a leak of top secret documents . He discovers their relationship & suddenly what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that will alter the course of political history.
I lost count of the number of times I googled whilst reading this book to find out what was fact & what was fiction. A riveting book which once I got into it, it was slow at the beginning, I found it hard to put down. The author has certainly done his homework as the attention to detail is very impressive.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

Another excellent historical novel from Robert Harris. The story starts in 1914 just before the First World War and introduces us to Prime Minister of the time, Herbert Asquith and his affair with 26 socialite, Venetia Stanley. I knew the historical facts about the build up to the First World War but Robert Harris really brings the human aspect of this to life. The discussion about decisions by those in power seemed, at times blasé and, knowing the devastation and the terrible loss of life to come,made it all the more shocking for me. I was unaware of Asquith’s many affairs, including with Venetia Stanley. The fact that the book includes the actual letters written by Asquith to Stanley was fascinating and, again shocking, with the amount of information he disclosed. A fascinating and eye-opening read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone for the review copy.

Robert Harris is never short of excellent so this was unlikely to score less than max stars from me; he writes too fluently and engagingly to risk being dull, even for someone who generally avoids fiction about both world wars.

I did enjoy this- partly as a scandalous love story and an insight into the politics of the time, with which I was unfamiliar., but also as a tense and exciting drama.

(Mild spoiler for those who don’t know the background ahead )
What I was left curious about was whatever happened regarding the police knowledge of the letters- Was the investigation ever recorded? And did Northcliffe’s press ever expose the information Kell gave him?

Once again Robert Harris illustrates his abilities to blend fact and fiction, here his focus is the Liberal PM HH Asquith in 1914 and his close and obsessive relationship with a bohemian socialite, part of 'the coterie', 26 year old Venetia Stanley, unimpressed by the men who surround her, the daughter of Lord Sheffield. I was aware of the relationship but the details provided here are eye opening in their depth, as Harris informs us all the letters, telegrams, newspaper reports, official documents, quoted are authentic, including the correspondence between Venetia and Edwin Montagu, are authentic.

It is shocking just how careless and reckless Asquith is with the details and documents he shares with Venetia, a woman thrilled to be at the centre of thistime of turbulent politics and history in the run up to the Great War, becoming aware there is no other woman in England who knows more about the unfolding crisis than her. When she is staying in Penrhos in Wales with her family, despite the horror of war inching ever closer, Asquith is jaw droppingly reluctant to give up his plans to travel there. It is Kitchener who first provides him with an inkling of war, what is in store, the potential timescales and huge losses that might be expected, in direct contrast to what his advisors forsee coming.

The ambitious Detective Sergeant Paul Deemer is in the right place to document a boat tragedy on the Thames, as requested by the Head of Special Branch, Patrick Quinn, which is how he first comes across Venetia. He interviews her, although she backed out of the trip, attending the inquest, and ends up investigating the disturbing discarded leaks clearly emanating from the highest offices in the land.

This is a fascinating and gripping read, of sexual intrigue, a picture of the London is painted of the time, in which the PM could walk around, virtually unrecognised. and a postal service that made 12 deliveries a day. Venetia retained the PM's letters, covering their romantic feelings, politics, military secrets and more, this large collection is kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. I can see this compelling read appealing to a wide range of readers, from those interested in history, particularly the details of this important political period in Europe, fans of the author, to other readers drawn by the characters, themes, and the intrigue. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Herbert Henry Asquith served as the British Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916. He took Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War and was the last Liberal Prime Minister to command a majority government. Through his term as P.M. he was married to wealthy socialite Margot. Asquith was a bit of a drinker and enjoyed the company of younger women (he was in his early 60’s by the time of the Great War). He’d met and befriended Venetia Stanley (daughter of Edward Stanley, 4th Baron Sheffield) and had become close to her when Venetia accompanied a group including Asquith and his daughter Violet on a trip to Sicily. The pair were to become entangled in an affair and met up regularly and exchanged letters in the period 1912 to 1915.

Asquith’s letters to Venetia were kept by the recipient and, to this day, are held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The collection comprises more than five hundred items. In his letters, Asquith declared his love and also shared many political and military secrets, and even sometimes included top secret documents. They comprise one-half of the story of a romance and also a unique insight into Asquith’s mind and actions during a pivotal moment in world history. In this book, Robert Harris does what he always does: he takes known facts and events and fills in the gaps with a good deal of conjecture. He’s a master at this – it’s what makes his novels so compelling.

It seems that more than a hundred years ago, the postal system was much more efficient than it is today. In fact, deliveries in London at least were running at three times per day! In effect, letters were the text messages of the time. And Asquith made the most of this, often writing three letters each day, sometimes drafting them during meetings and debates. There’s a lot of love in the letters, but also – and increasingly so as time passes – a good deal of political and military commentary. Figures such as David Lloyd George, Edwin Montagu, and particularly Winston Churchill are regularly discussed.

For me, this story started slowly. I found the romantic element to be interesting enough but hardly compelling. But once the events leading up to the war, and also the early parts of the war itself, became a substantial component then I was truly gripped. Clearly, the author had to assume some elements and even admits to inventing a key character in order to flesh out the tale, but much of this story is historical fact. It’s a gripping and also, in many ways, a sad tale: one for history buffs and the romantics too. Another top class effort from this terrific writer.

It’s wise to include up front that all letters from the PN to Venetia are genuine, as if it weren’t for that emphasis on historical record I would have likely been deeply critical of what can only be described as unbelievable events. The combination of politically febrile times in the run up and first year of the war, the unwise affair, the shocking sharing of sensitive information and disregard for priorities, and the background police investigation make for thrilling reading. Another superb read from Harris.

Goodness this book was a real eye opener, and a shocking indictment of people in power and their ability, or otherwise, to make life or death decisions regarding other people's lives. As ever Mr Harris' writing is easy to read and engaging, so the reader learns a lot without trying too hard. However, I had to keep reminding myself it was true that a British wartime Prime Minister had an affair with a younger aristocratic woman and entrusted her with confidential details of what was happening in the Cabinet and abroad and valued her opinion! I heard Mr Harris interviewed on the radio this morning and was interested to hear him say he thought Venetia was one of the country's unsung but very powerful women and it added a definite nuance to read the book in this way.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

Is there a better chronicler of history who converts the facts to fiction than Harris? NO is the definite answer!
Here we find ourselves as readers instantly set into the careless 'coterie' of rich and feckless aristocrats on the Thames where two men drown and 'luckily' the guest Venetia Stanley had not attended. That she had been distracted by a potential meeting with the Prime Minister of the time Herbert Asquith soon sets the scene for their 'affair.'
How very 1914 is this tale. Of letters sent often three times a day through a postal system that delivers them that same day - often within hours! Of chauffeur driven cars picking up Venetia, with the PM in the back tossing out 'flimsies' - that are Top Secret communications in the build up to WWI. (I recall a certain Minister having 'left' letters on park benches and bins and confidential laptops 'lost' even in recent years)
Asquith was an obsessive in his pursuit of the younger Venetia - hundreds of letters were sent to her - and it seems he chased other younger women too, whilst his devoted (to his position in society) wife Margot had seen it all before.
Where Harris is clever is using the river incident to introduce our Detective -Paul Deemer into the plot. Our unassuming plod is thrown from witness statements (where he meets Venetia) into a place in the developing intelligence services seeking out German spies as War is declared and bringing us into the intrigue and openly dangerous correspondence leaving and entering Downing Street.
Harris makes the machinations of war and government decisions highly readable and conveys the frenetic approach to decision making- yet contrasts it against the futility and fatalities of war- with dinner parties, weekends in castles and the country and endless games of bridge. we ought to feel our leaders are focused on the plans for war, the immense trust placed in politicians to lead from the front focused and in charge. Yet here we see the men (and sometimes women) of that time scurrying to a lover's tryst, a underhand leak to the press or a note (more often with Asquith a long letter) even written around the Cabinet table.
Totally absorbing as a read. Hard to look beyond Asquith (although Winston Churchill makes many a mention) to find respect for the rulers of the time (even the King) but Harris does not treat with contempt just layering human lack of judgement with love/lust against the tumult of a way that will kill millions.
Brilliant.

Robert Harris always manages to produce something stunningly different and he certainly hasn't let himself down with Precipice. This amazing book, based strongly on fact with some fictional enhancement, details the relationship between Prime Minister HH Asquith and Venetia Stanley during 1914/15. The political detail shared between the two is mind-blowing. As is the pure number of letters they exchanged. Although this era is not one of particular interest to me I was captivated from the start by the amount of detail Harris included in his writing which brought the characters so much to life. A brilliantly written book and an excellent read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

A new book by Robert Harris is always an event in my world and Precipice continues his run as the unviralled master of historical fiction. He always seems to manage to find events which are important historically and humanise them in a way that brings any period completely to life, whether it’s Ancient Rome, 17th century England and America, Edwardian Britain or even a dystopian future.

Precipice is set in the United Kingdom in 1914 as war appears inevitable. The story revolves around the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, and his affair with Venetia Stanley, a society woman 35 years his junior. The precipice of the title is not only applicable to a world hurtling towards the loss of a generation of young men, including the sons of those making the decisions, but also for Asquith personally as he takes all sorts of risks by telling her state secrets and passing on confidential information. Finally we have Paul Deemer, a (fictitious) policeman brought in to the security forces to infiltrate the mail between the two and discover which secrets may have been disclosed.

It’s a bizarre, almost unbelievable story, and yet it’s based on real life events. All the letters from Asquith which are contained in the book are his actual words (Venetia’s are invented to fill the gaps on her side as he destroyed her correspondence) and it’s incredible to see his infatuation and how much he focuses on her rather than world events, often writing to her three times a day (it’s also incredible to see such an efficient postal service). What’s most striking is the anonymity that the Prime Minister enjoys. He is able to walk around the streets unrecognised and Downing Street is open to all and little known even to taxi drivers. No. 10 feels more like a family home as Asquith walks across the road to discuss important matters late at night in the Foreign Office, then walks back home to lock the door behind him and go to bed.
Asquith could easily have come across as either pathetic or unlikeable but instead he remains sympathetic. He seems to realise he’s out of his depth in this role at this time but is unable to see a way out. His wife, Margot, is the strong and ambitious one in the relationship and he seems to have come to the position partly through her networking. It’s clear that Venetia Stanley is not the first woman to occupy this role for him, that he needs these outside interests and uses the correspondence also as a means of working out his own thoughts. There’s a real sense of how heavily his decisions weigh on him throughout and you can feel the pressure build on him as the crowds grow outside the windows of No. 10.

Venetia herself is an unusual and interesting character. She’s clearly intelligent but trapped by her position in the society of the time. She is very much part of the idle rich upper class, surrounded by bright young things who look no further than having fun (one of her circle is Asquith’s eldest son) and not at all satisfied by the thought of only marriage in her future rather than using her mind. In the beginning she seems to enjoy seeing such important information and discussing matters of national importance but becomes increasingly uncomfortable and suffocated by the situation as it spirals.

Once I began this book, I couldn’t put it down. I was familiar with the story but Harris is such a wonderful writer that he brings everything to life. The build up to the Great War is complicated, with all the alliances around Europe, and I wasn’t overly familiar with all the politicians of the time but he manages to set the scene very well and it’s soon clear who everyone is and what role they play. It’s fascinating to see the young Churchill in the background, a Johnsonian figure full of excitement about the chance of war and reckless in many decisions, but we’re also always very aware that most of these people are concerned about all the lives that may be lost, especially as their own sons are likely to have to fight, and are very aware of how terrible this war will be. It’s a wonderful book, another brilliant glimpse into history from Harris, and I can’t wait to see where in time he goes next.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review. I have added this review to Goodreads and will add to Waterstones and Amazon on publication day.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case they are right. If this were a completely invented story, I'd be saying how unbelievable elements of it are. But all the 'unbelievable' bits turn out to be factually accurate, You couldn't make it up - and Harris didn't have to. Robert Harris once again demonstrates his uncanny ability to find fascinating bits of history that are lesser known, and turn them into compelling stories even when the source material is slim or unamusing. In this case, he fictionalises the facts about British Prime Minister HH Asquith and his affair with a much younger woman, whom he became so obsessed with he wrote to her three times a day and sent her classified material whilst the country was at war. As Harris himself says in his foreword, hard though it is to believe, all the letters from Asquith in the book are genuine. Harris imagines the responses from his paramour, and creates a fictional secret policeman who has the unenviable job of monitoring this potentially treacherous correspondence. But the skeleton of the story is all true.

The novel starts in the weeks immediately before the outbreak of World War I. Asquith shares all the secret intelligence reports about the deepening crisis in Europe with Venetia Stanley, his mistress, treating her as a kind of advisor as well as romantic partner. When they are separated during the war, he writes more and more frequently, crossing more and more lines. The letters are very candid and provide an extraordinary insight into the mind of a man leading a country at war. This was an era where men in particular didn't open up about their feelings, and even now you are unlikely to hear a serving politician admitting to feelings of inadequacy. I did feel some sympathy for the man, bewildered and anxious, facing horrible circumstances that he was in charge of sorting out, with millions of lives on the line. Simultaneously though, you can recognise his selfish and unkind behaviour towards his wife, and towards Venetia herself, and the careless way he handled information could have literally lost the war.

As always with Harris, his writing flows well and you get drawn along quickly, even though the 'action' is all political. I felt sympathy with and liking for Venetia, even though I didn't expect to initially, and wanted to know how things would turn out for her. In fact I found the whole plot really thrilling, helped by my sketchy knowledge of history meaning I didn't know how it would end. It is classic Robert Harris, up there with some of his best novels. If you enjoy political thrillers or have an interest in the history of this time, then it is compulsory reading.

4* Precipice by Robert Harris. The master of weaving historical fact into page-turning fiction is on top form in this incredible book.

HH Asquith is the Liberal Prime Minister, husband, father and a man who will shortly be steering the country in a monumental war across Europe. However, Asquith only has one thing on his mind, his obsession with Venetia Stanley, a woman who is part of his ‘set’ (more accurately his son’s ‘set’) and is less than half his age.

As war goes from a possibility to a reality, Asquith’s correspondence to Venetia not only amounts to several letters a day but regales secrets only available to the highest levels of his Cabinet. Robert Harris takes the contents of those incredible letters and imagines the beginning of WWI told through this misjudged relationship.

Precipice is a page-turning, jaw-dropping story, made all the more impressive as the reader can trust Harris to have grounded his work in fact (at one point Asquith travels to Newcastle to speak to munition workers … as it’s my home town, I was intrigued to see that the talk was in a theatre I had never heard of. A quick Google showed that it was the preeminent theatre in the city at the time but was demolished in the 1960s). The ability to weave a story of intrigue, espionage and secrets from letters which in many respects are wearing and repetitive, is an absolute skill. Although the reader knows that the country will go to war and that war will brutally last for years, watching this unfold so close to the decisions being made is chilling and fascinating. I would thoroughly recommend this book.

Thanks to Penguin Random House, Cornerstone and Netgalley for an advance copy.

The way Robert Harris interweaves the affair between the Prime Minister Asquith and Venitia Stanley with the unfolding of WW1 is a literary treat. The strain Asquith must have been under and the casual way he shared state secrets with Venitia is truly mind blowing.

The political wranglings make for an interesting read and using the letters between the two lovers adds another layer of enjoyment to the novel.

A seamless blend of fact and fiction throughout this story and certainly gave me an insight into parts of WW1 which are never taught in schools !! It is a love story blended with behind the scenes politics which in hindsight could have been very detrimental to the UK government and nation at that time. The PM Asquith is so absorbed with Venetia Stanley, that he loses sight at times as to the huge problems which the forces were facing abroad. The book also gives a good insight into the lives of the upper classes back then whose "entitlement" at times showed no boundaries. The author gives the reader great descriptions of their lives and properties along with the hell which the returning soldiers had to endure at times. If you like history then this book is a must read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review

Precipice by Robert Harris

Robert Harris can do no wrong in my eyes. If I had to do a list of my top 3 authors, he would be on it. He finds the thrills and tension in the most quiet of moments (see Conclave for example). he does that again with Precipice, which takes us to the late summer of 1914 and the days leading up to the outbreak of the Great War. We follow Asquith, Britain’s Prime Minister, who is so distracted by his affair with the bored aristocrat Venetia Stanley. How better to entertain her and keep her than by sharing with her the most secret of secrets, the telegrams between heads of state and the military, the details of his cabinet meetings? All consigned to the public post system. It’s quite a tale, based on genuine letters and told from Asquith’s and Venetia’s point of view, and I was enthralled, doing my own research as I read. Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction, as this book demonstrates so very well. Beautifully written, so well-researched and full of tension and building pressure, combined with a very unusual romance.

“The Past is a foreign country, they do things differently over there”. Hartley’s famous line is perfectly illustrated by this book. 1914 is just over one hundred years ago but so much has changed, for example there were twelve post deliveries every day in London, and commonly at least three everywhere. Without this useful facility the events central to this story could not have happened. Herbert Henry Asquith is a married man of sixty-two; his paramour, the honourable Beatrice Venetia Stanley, is twenty-six. She is a member of the aristocracy, he is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Their love affair initially takes place within the rather hedonistic whirl of the rich and entitled upper class world of parties, dances and week end stays in castles. Asquith, known to the in-crowd as ‘Prime’, is more restricted than many others due to his public profile (although in the absence of TV and cinema he can freely walk around unrecognised outside the Westminster bubble) and their opportunities to meet are constrained. They can usually meet in the back of his ministerial car, shutters drawn – driver discreet, at least once a week, but otherwise it is snatched moments during those stays. Their relationship is sustained, therefore, by the exchange of letters (often two or three a day). It is not just an Affaire do Coeur because Venetia is clever and intellectual companion.
The book begins in July 1914, where the prospect of War in Europe suddenly rises to the top of the political agenda. Prime’s time is becoming more constrained just at the point where he needs her intellect as a sounding board and councillor. His correspondence, and his talk when they meet, is becoming more occupied with Matters of State and more indiscrete, including details of War Cabinet discussions, military actions and diplomatic transmissions. In other words she becomes party to the most secret information. The possibility that this might be happening comes to the attention of MO5(g) a secret government agency and Sergeant Deemer of the Metropolitan Police, is assigned the task of monitoring the situation, including intercepting and copying all their letters passing through the postal system. Is there a risk that this information can be leaked to the enemy? Obviously, any other people would be arrested, but the Prime Minister and the daughter of Lord Sheffield are not ‘other people’. Deemer must continue to investigate.
Robert Hariss is a hugely experienced writer of Historical thrillers, blending real events and real people with fictional ones. Here, however, the fiction is a minor part of the story, because the relationship between Prime and Venetia is a matter of historical record and, indeed, a cache of their letters (>500) exists and provides much of the text here. The records of the War Cabinet and other departments of government are also available, as are the names of all the important players, including Vernon Kell the head of MI5 who is identified as Deemer’s boss in the book. Essentially, therefore, the only fiction is Deemer’s investigation, and that is fairly routine, even pedestrian. The book might be classified as History, or Romance but I don’t think it can be called a Thriller. Nevertheless, it is a well written story, entertaining and illuminating for most readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

What bliss to be alive and in possession of a new Robert Harris novel, even better an advance proof copy. I like counterfactual novels (Fatherland) and ones which bear a resemblance to real events (Conclave) but there’s an extra frisson in reading a story that has a solid framework of real people and real events, where it’s only the unrecorded thoughts and conversations that the novelist has had to invent. Wolf Hall is perhaps the ne plus ultra; Harris’s An Officer and a Spy runs it close.
This may be a novel but it’s the true parts that are most astonishing, in particular the tens of letters from Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to his young mistress Venetia Stanley. They show how much he leant on her, sharing the burden of office and setting things straight in his mind by explaining them to her. Asquith is portrayed sympathetically, as a rational thinker aware of his own shortcomings, but also as a lovesick fool. I rather warmed to Venetia; in a different time she might have been working for him in an official capacity. His security discipline was atrocious; thank goodness she took confidentiality seriously.
Whatever the research and setting of historical fiction, it’s got to feel right and this definitely does – I’ve spent the last couple of days happily ensconced in 1914/5 in the company of the great and the good, really feeling the tension as war loomed and then as Churchill pushed the Dardanelles campaign. I’m on a bit of a First World War jag at the moment and this is a perfect complement to Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August and Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers, each no less riveting for being dense non-fiction. Harris at his best is hard to beat and with Precipice he is at his very best. Enjoy.

Precipice by Robert Harris is a little bit of a slow burner. In classic Harris style, everything is described in a beautiful way, evoking a real sense of time and place. The country is on the verge of WWI, but it’s the Prime Minister’s personal life that has become a matter of national security.
The attention to historical detail is amazing, as the author used the original letters written by HH Asquith - who sometimes wrote to his 26 year old mistress up to 3 times a day!
The mix of fact and fiction works well to weave a narrative that shows a lesser known side of the political climate in Britain during the First World War.
It has a little less action than some of Harris’s other novels and while I didn’t enjoy it any less, I did sometimes feel like I was waiting for something to happen that didn’t really materialise. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Overall, another historical fiction that deserves its place on any history lover’s bookshelf. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an a honest review.

Oh I absolutely loved this! My favourite Robert Harris book since An Officer and A Spy. It's a brilliantly written account of a fascinating time in the lead up to, and during the early months, of WW1. The insights into some of the key decision-makers is absolutely fantastic and Harris does a great job of presenting really three-dimensional characters. I love the way he brings history to life and, as well as being absorbed in the story, I learned so much as well. The portrayal of the relationship between Asquith and Venetia was brilliant and utterly plausible.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read such a wonderful book. I will be telling everyone to read this one!