Robert Harris, a TV correspondent with the BBC and a London Sunday Times columnist, had sold more than six million copies of his three previous bestsellers (Enigma, Fatherland and Archangel) in 30 languages. His latest bestseller, Pompeii, is his first historical novel and it's already a #1 hit in London. Random House reports rave reviews and strong word-of-mouth (there was a huge advance reader's edition mailing to booksellers) that has put the book on the charts after about one week in the stores. First printing is 195,000.
—With reporting by Dick Donahue
