The Tower (39 page)

He asked to get out at the entrance to the square so he could cross the immense colonnaded area on foot. He looked at the nativity scene on display in a corner, with its Christ child, shepherds and shooting star, and he stopped for a while to listen to the murmuring fountains. He closed his eyes and saw, for the last time, the clear waters of Hallaki. He raised his head before setting off again and at that moment a light appeared in a window on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace, like an eye opening wide onto the darkness of a sleepless night.

V
ALERIO
M
ASSIMO
M
ANFREDI
is professor of classical archaeology at the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan. He has carried out a number of expeditions to and excavations in many sites throughout the Mediterranean, and has taught in Italian and international universities. He has published numerous articles and academic books, mainly on military and trade routes and exploration in the ancient world.

He has published ten works of fiction, including the ‘Alexander’ trilogy, which has been translated into twenty-four languages in thirty-eight countries, and
The Last Legion
, made into a major motion picture starring Colin Firth and Sir Ben Kingsley. He has written and hosted documentaries on the ancient world, which have been transmitted by the main television networks, and has written fiction for cinema and television as well.

He lives with his family in the countryside near Bologna.

Also by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

A
LEXANDER
: C
HILD OF A
D
REAM

A
LEXANDER
: T
HE
S
ANDS OF
A
MMON

A
LEXANDER
: T
HE
E
NDS OF THE
E
ARTH

S
PARTAN

T
HE
L
AST
L
EGION

H
EROES

(
formerly
The Talisman of Troy)

T
YRANT

T
HE
O
RACLE

E
MPIRE OF
D
RAGONS

T
O
B
ONVI

First published 2006 by Macmillan

First published in paperback 2007 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2010 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-52750-7 PDF
ISBN 978-0-330-52748-4 EPUB

Copyright © Valerio Massimo Manfredi 2006
Translation copyright © Valerio Massimo Manfredi 2006

First published in Italian 1996 as
La Torre Della Solitudine
by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., Milano

The right of Valerio Massimo Manfredi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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