Reading Group Guide

One of the most popular American novels of all time, General Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur vividly reimagines the mighty Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. The saga of Judah Ben-Hur’s spiritual journey from slavery to vengeance to redemption is both a vivid historical adventure and a powerful story of one man’s religious awakening. As Blake Allmendinger writes in his Introduction to this Modern Library Paperback Classic, “Ben-Hur has endured for more than one hundred years because it offers something for everyone. The story of the Jewish hero Ben-Hur, his conflict with the Roman warrior Messala, and his conversion to Christianity at the foot of the Cross, combines adventure, sentimentality, athletic spectacle, and religious devotion.”