The Rise and Fall of Great Powers

One of the paciest, easiest to read novels you could imagine . . . Mesmerising: a thorough work-out for the head and heart that targets cognitive muscles you never knew you had * The Times * Some novels are such good company that you don't want them to end; Tom Rachman knows this, and has pulled off the feat of writing one . . . A touching story of fallen idols, with brilliant insights into misplaced loyalties, and the power that adults have over children. Rachman has written a hugely likeable, even loveable book about the people we meet and how they shape us * Sunday Telegraph * Ingenious . . . Rachman needs only a few well-drawn characters to fill a large canvas and an impressive swath of history * New York Times * The way the three stories mesh is a wonderful thing - suspense and intrigue in equal measure. Every so often it reminded me of Donna Tartt * Evening Standard * The detail is never overdone, the language is quirky and the novel's structure is beautifully managed * The Lady * When a Tom Rachman novel lands in the bookstores I stop living and breathing to devour it. It's hard to think of anyone who has a better grasp on the world we live in (and I mean, like, the entire planet) and can write about it with such entertainment and panache * Gary Shteyngart *

Born in London and raised in Vancouver, Tom Rachman was a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press stationed in Rome, then an editor at the International Herald Tribune in Paris. He is the author of three novels, the international bestseller The Imperfectionists; The Rise and Fall of Great Powers and The Italian Teacher, as well as a short stories collection, Basket of Deplorables. He lives in London.