The Emperor's Club

William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later. Written by Anonymous William Hundert, a retired "old-school" classics teacher is passionate about his subject. Moreover, he strongly believes in moulding his students by using principles. However, his methods are put to the test by a new student, Sedgewick Bell who shakes Hundert's controlled world and threatens to undermine all that he stands for. Hundert's challenge is to change this young man while maintaining his integrity. Lessons abound for the students and teacher culminating in a reunion 25 years later. Reknowned prep school St.Benedict's celebrated history professor, William Hundert, happily devotes his life to instilling Classical knowledge and values into his students, usually with some success. When passed-over as headmaster by a younger colleague who excels mainly in fund-raising and networking, he resigns. However Hundert agrees to earn the school a huge donation simply by staging a re-match of the Mr. Julius Caesar annual Roman history contest edition. This was previously lost despite cheating by a most promising pupil who let him down, Sedgewick Bell, the confused son of a US senator without morality.