Triumphs and Laments is not only a celebration of William Kentridge’s monumental frieze drawn along the banks of the River Tiber in Rome and the performance which inaugurated it, but a guide to one of his most memorable and ambitious projects. Designed with the early Baedekers in mind, this bilingual book acts as an essential component to viewing Kentridge’s erased-graffiti figures and understanding the process of their creation, with useful foldouts, a poster, and a leporello of the frieze to accompany the texts. These include a conversation between Carlos Basualdo and the artist, and two essays by Salvatore Settis and Gabriele Guercio that explore the meaning behind the work and its resonance with the millennia-long history of the city of Rome.