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INTERVIEW:On tour for his novel set during the Roman empire, former political journalist and best-selling author Robert Harris talks frankly about Tony Blair, almost draws a complete blank on Brian Cowen and defends his old friend Roman Polanski, writes ROSITA BOLAND
THE AUTHOR Robert Harris is not sure how many millions of books he has sold. “I have rather lost track,” he says, not quite convincingly, as if the question of sales is slightly distasteful. He does know how many languages his books have been translated into, though: 37. “I’m prowling around to try and get to 40,” he says. “I’d be very pleased with that.” His sales passed the 10 million mark three years ago. His first great success was Fatherland, in 1992, a novel depicting a world in which Germany had won the second World War. Next came Enigma, made into a movie starring Kate Winslet; then Archangel and Pompeii; and Imperium, the first of the Cicero trilogy set in ancient Rome. After that was The Ghost, the film of which Roman Polanski shot earlier this year (about whom more later). All were best-sellers, as Lustrum– the second book in the trilogy, and the reason why he’s briefly visiting Ireland – will surely be.
