Precipice

A WORLD ON THE BRINK OF WAR. AN AFFAIR ON THE EDGE OF SCANDAL. THE NUMBER 1 BESTSELLERA RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB AND A SUNDAY TIMES SUMMER READS PICK 2025‘A riveting tale of politics, war and erotic obsession’ Sunday Times‘His most enthralling yet .

. . a slam dunk of a plot .

. . extraordinary’ Nicholas Coleridge, Independent‘Gripping .

. . Harris also has the John le Carré gift for showing how meetings can become a form of blood sport’ Jake Kerridge, Telegraph'Splendid' Max Hastings, Sunday TimesSummer 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.