Ben-Hur: The Tale of The Christ By Carol Wallace

Judah Ben-Hur is now the man of the family. With the recent passing of his father, Judah now needs to claim responsibility for the vast estate of the House of Hur. This, of course, was not the ideal time for a young Israelite living in Jerusalem to try and establish himself. The city was a buzz with the news of a new Roman governor who was to rule over Jerusalem. When the triumphal entry of the new ruler went past the House of Hur, young Judah needed to see. While observing from his roof top fate, or maybe providence, caused a roofing tile to dislodge and hit the new governor in the head. Assassination was the cry! In the blink of an eye, young Judah was sent to certain death, sentenced to the belly of a ship, sitting at a oar, a piece in the vast Roman navel fleet. His mother and sister sent to prison.

For young Ben-Hur this would not be the end. Fate, or again providence, would intervene. In a fierce sea battle, Ben-Hur's slave ship begins to sink. In the chaos of trying to save himself, he also saves the Roman captain. This was a risk as the Roman captain could easily return him back to his slave status, but instead adopts him as a son. Now young Ben-Hur is educated, trained in the skill of fighting, and wealthily beyond dreams. Will he forget his past life? Will he try to restore his family's once proud name? Will he extract revenge on the Roman empire who took so much from him, but has also given him much? How will Ben-Hur react to a young carpenter from Nazareth that people whisper is the coming King of the Jews. Ben-Hur is a story of tragedy, redemption, revenge, love, loyalty, and divinity. It holds to the standards of any great epic novel, and will quickly become one of your families favorites.

I have always loved epic stories. The stories of Rocky (yo Adrian! We did it!), Braveheart (They may take our lives, but they can never take our freedom!), Godfather (You come to me on my daughters wedding day), Terminator (Come with me if you want to live. Side noted, I got $5 that says you read the last two movie quotes with a Marlin Brando and Arnold Schwarzenegger accents), and Tombstone (I'll be your huckleberry!) These stories stir something deep in me. They strike a cord with something that is in my genetic make up. These stories highlight my natural desire for adventurer, over coming the odds, and good prevailing over evil. In short, I connect with them because they reflect a part of me. The epic story of Ben-Hur was able to make all those same connections, and strike those same cords within me. It has now taken its rightful place among my favorite epic stories.

Ben-Hur is not a new story. In fact Ben-Hur was first published in 1880 by Lew Wallace, a Union Major General in the Civil War and post-way layer. Ben-Hur did not see the commercial success that Wallace had hoped for initially, but by 1886 it was a major best seller and has continued to make periodic reassurances since then. Maybe most notably in the 1950’s movie staring Charlton Heston. Now Lew Wallace’s great-great-gradaugther Carol Wallace has breathed new life into this classic book while maintaining its original integrity. Its a must read for any adventure loving bibliophil. And if you are going to see the newest version of Ben-Hur on the big screen, then you of course need to read the book first.

I received Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ as compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this book for my review and the opinions are strictly my own.