SPQR Jedediah Berry At once a rigorous work

At once a rigorous work of scholarship and a radical act of empathy

mar it indelibly and irrevocably

the imaginary friend he had when he was younger

practical path to living with integrity and hope

SPQR Jedediah Berry At once a rigorous workBy: Mary Beard Published by National Geographic Books, 2016 09 13 In <i>SPQR< i>, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome "with passion and without technical jargon" and demonstrates how "a slightly shabby Iron Age village" rose to become the "undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean" (<i>Wall Street Journal< i>). Hailed by critics as animating "the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life"