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  • Published: 1 August 2007
  • ISBN: 9781741668599
  • Imprint: Vintage Australia
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $24.99

The Empire Of Eternity



In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Egypt. But hidden in the sands was a secret that conquered him. A brilliant novel by the acclaimed author of SCHEHEREZADE and THE LAMPLIGHTER.

The Chamber of Eternity is said to contain a hieroglyphic code to the future, the meaning of life and the secrets of immortality. For thousands of years its site has been fiercely guarded, its existence defended by preposterous rumours and outright lies. Learning of the mysterious vault, Napoleon Bonaparte launches an expedition to Egypt to locate the Chamber. When its extraordinary secrets are revealed to him in the heart of the Great Pyramid, he returns to Paris and swiftly becomes Emperor of France.
Forty years later Queen Victoria becomes infatuated with the legend and recruits Alexander Rhind, a modest young Scot, to infiltrate a secretive cabal of archaeologists known as the 'Brotherhood of Eternity'. But when Rhind himself is seduced by the mystery, he is compelled to undertake his own expedition to Egypt to uncover the truth.
With its cast of emperors, popes, queens, generals, sheikhs, artists and archaeologists - every one of them real - The Empire of Eternity is a spellbinding novel about the wonders of Egypt, the secrets of the gods, and man's desire to achieve immortality at all costs. By turns awesome and intimate, its revelations endure far beyond the final page.

  • Published: 1 August 2007
  • ISBN: 9781741668599
  • Imprint: Vintage Australia
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $24.99

About the author

Anthony O'Neill

Anthony O’Neill is the author of several books including Scheherazade, a revisionist Arabian Nights adventure, The Lamplighter, a tale of the macabre set in 1880s Edinburgh, The Empire of Eternity, a mystery involving Napoleon and the early years of Egyptology, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Seek, an unofficial sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His books have been published in 17 languages. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Praise for The Empire Of Eternity

‘A page-turner that combines pacy plot with intellect and a grand historical sweep. O’Neill’s gift is to underpin his bold fancies with scholarship. [His] writing is both spry and forceful. The characters are vividly alive in their obsessions. THE EMPIRE OF ETERNITY establishes O’Neill’s reputation as a suave, daring and unflaggingly entertaining storyteller.‘ - The Bulletin