Emergency and rich insight on the

and rich insight on the culture of the Roman empire in the second century

With a "ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world" (Jane Smiley

a cart of scavenged food--and each other

setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness

Emergency and rich insight on theGeorge Packer's gripping fable of imperial collapse illuminates the crises of our times. George Packer's bestselling nonfiction work exploring American life has won many prizes, including the National Book Award. With The Emergency, he turns to fiction, bringing us a visionary novel that goes to the nerve center of what it means to live in a time of fracture and upheaval. An empire has collapsed from boredom and loss of faith in itself. In the