Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Book 1

Jerusalem, 1st century AD. The Roman Empire rules with an iron hand, and the Jews wait for a Messiah who may never come. Into this charged world steps Judah Ben-Hur, a young Jewish prince whose life is about to collide with history. Lew Wallace builds the world of the Nativity with staggering detail: the Roman legions in the streets, the plotting of corrupt prefects, the whispered prophecies in the hills, the weight of empire on a conquered people. Book 1 traces Ben-Hur's youth and the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ, rendering that pivotal moment through the eyes of those who lived it. This is not a religious tract dressed up as fiction. It is a sprawling historical epic that happens to orbit the greatest story ever told. For readers who want to feel the Roman cobblestones beneath their feet, who want history to pulse with life rather than lie dead in dates.