In one of the most unique parlays in human history, Lew Wallace was
not only a significant Union General during the Civil War, he also wrote
one of the best selling novels in all of literature. After
the war, posted to a deadly dull Western fort, Wallace began writing to
fill the empty hours. Prompted by a casual
discussion about the life and times of Jesus, he set this great story
of revenge against the backdrop of Christ's mission.
Judah Ben-Hur is a Jew of Jerusalem. Arriving at manhood, he has
become estranged from his childhood friend Messala, a Roman noble.
The two exchange bitter words and when Ben-Hur later accidentally dislodges
a roof tile which strikes a Roman official, Messala has him sent to the
galleys and his mother and sister, Tirzah, sent to a leprosy infested prison
cell. As he is being led to the ship on which he will
be enslaved, Ben-Hur is offered a drink of water by an unforgettable stranger.
Onboard ship, Ben-Hur befriends the Roman admiral Arrius and, after saving
his life, is made his heir and a citizen of Rome.
Several years later, wealthy and well educated, Ben-Hur returns to Judea
to look for his mother and sister and wreak his revenge on Messala.
Vengeance comes when he vanquishes Messala in a chariot race, but his family,
freed from their squalid cell and suffering from leprosy, hide from him.
Meanwhile, Christ has come to Jerusalem preaching to increasing crowds
and Ben-Hur, recognizing the kindly stranger who once helped him, becomes
a leader of a group of armed guards bent on protecting him. His devotion
becomes all the more complete after Christ heals Tirzah and his mother.
But when the time comes, Ben-Hur heeds Christ's wishes and does not intervene.
He does manage to return the long ago favor and give Christ a drink and
remains to bear witness to the crucifixion. The story concludes with
the increasingly wealthy Ben-Hur using his riches to fund the catacombs
of Rome from which Christianity would emerge to conquer the Empire.
It is no mystery why this is one of the most beloved of all American
novels. The savage revenge theme, worthy of The Count of Monte
Cristo, intertwines with the story of Christ to produce a story that
is thrilling, uplifting and timeless.
(Reviewed:12-Apr-00)
Grade: (A+)
Websites:
Book-related and General Links:
-ENCYCLOPAEDIA
BRITANNICA: Your search: "lew wallace"
-The General Lew.
Wallace Study: The Ben-Hur Museum (Crawfordsville, Indiana)
-AITLC
Guide to Major General Lew Wallace (The ACCESS INDIANA Teaching &
Learning Center)
-Monocacy
National Battlefield: Known as "The Battle that Saved Washington"
the Union forces were commanded by Major-General Lew Wallace
-Indiana
Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives LEW WALLACE COLLECTION
-BIO:
Lewis "Lew" Wallace (Civil War Indiana)
-Lew
Wallace and the Indiana Zouaves, 11th Indiana Regiment Infantry
-STATUE:
General Lew Wallace
-ESSAY:
How Came I to Write Ben-Hur? By General Lew. Wallace (Originally
published in The Youths Companion, February 2, 1893)
-ESSAY
: The Curse of Lew Wallace (William P. Barrett, Crosswinds)
-Lew
Wallace. (The Cambridge History of English and American Literature)
-ETEXT:
The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew
Wallace
-Concordances
- Wallace, Lew - BEN HUR Text and Search Word Indexes of
Classic Books
-REVIEW:
James M. McPherson: Generals in Politics, NY Review of Books
Jefferson Davis and His
Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West by Steven E. Woodworth
Abandoned by Lincoln: A
Military Biography of General John Pope by Wallace J. Schutz and Walter
N. Trenerry
Damned Yankee: The Life
of General Nathaniel Lyon by Christopher Phillips
-REVIEW:
Robert M. Adams: On the Trail of Santa Fe, NY Review of Books
New Mexico: A Guide to the
Colorful State for the American Guide Series by the Writers' Program of
the Works Project Administration
New Mexico: A New Guide
to the Colorful State by Lance Chilton, Katherine Chilton, Polly E. Arango,
James Dudley, Nancy Neary, and Patricia Stelzner
Enchantment and Exploitation:
The Life and Hard Times of a New Mexico Mountain Range by William deBuys
Mercedes Reales: Hispanic
Land Grants of the Upper Rio Grande Region by Victor Westphall
Four Leagues of Pecos: A
Legal History of the Pecos Grant, 1800-1933 by G. Emlen Hall
New Mexico: A Bicentennial
History by Marc Simmons
Along the Santa Fe Trail
essay by Marc Simmons and photographs by Joan Myers
Haunted Highways: The Ghost
Towns of New Mexico by Ralph Looney
Four Fighters of Lincoln
County by Robert M. Utley
-REVIEW:
of THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR A Documentary History. By Frederick Nolan
(Paula Mitchell Marks, NY Times Book Review)
-A
Novel Idea: Michael Enright talks with critic Bruce Meyer about Ben HurÝ(THIS
MORNING - CBC Radio)
FILM:
-#36
on the AFI Top 100
-REVIEW:
of the Silent Version Ben-Hur: a Tale of the Christ (Sheryl Stinchcum,
Silents Majority)
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