About this Event
Robert Harris discusses and signs AGRIPPA - In Conversation with David Frum of The Atlantic - Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | 7:00 p.m. ET
Barnes & Noble Georgetown
3040 M St. NW | Washington, DC | 3rd Floor
Join us for a very special talk with Robert Harris whose latest book is AGRIPPA: A Novel of Ancient Rome's Descent into Dictatorship. Also joining us as the evening's interlocutor is David Frum of The Atlantic.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
He was born feet first, a dangerous way to enter the world. His mother did not survive, and the nickname, Agrippa—mother killer—stuck. But the schoolyard taunting only served to harden his resolve and hone his predilection for aggression. In time, the name lost its sting and became instead a mark of his invincibility. It came to shape his destiny.
Agrippa was a mere commoner, a plebeian, his father a humble Stoic, but he earned the respect and fear of his peers. He defended a bullied young boy, Octavius, who turned out to be the nephew of Caesar himself, a chance encounter that would change the trajectory of his life. He eventually joined the ranks of the legionnaires and marched against their enemies. His prowess on the battlefield spoke for itself, and Caesar relied on him to protect his favored nephew. When Caesar was murdered in the Senate, Octavius inherited the empire in name only. To assume the mantle he would have to fight for it, and Agrippa, forever by his side, would be his closest advisor and the merciless agent of his military will.
As gripping and full of intrigue as his bestselling novel Conclave, Agrippa is Robert Harris’s monumental return to the world of ancient Rome on the precipice of dictatorship, a novel for our times.
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ABOUT AUTHOR ROBERT HARRIS
Robert Harris is the author of sixteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum, and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep, V2, Act of Oblivion, and Precipice. His work has been translated into forty languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.
ABOUT DAVID FRUM
David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the host of the weekly podcast "The David Frum Show." He is the author of 10 books, most recently Trumpocracy (2018) and Trumpocalypse (2020). In 2001 and 2002, David was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. From 2014 to 2017, he chaired the prominent U.K. center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. He writes for The Atlantic on topics including politics, policy, art, literature, and history.
Event venue & nearby stays
Barnes & Noble Georgetown, 3040 M Street Northwest, Washington, United States
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