Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is one of the great historical novels of the nineteenth century, an epic story of betrayal, slavery, revenge, faith, and redemption set against the world of ancient Rome and the life of Christ. Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince of Jerusalem, is falsely accused of treason by his childhood friend Messala and condemned to the galleys. Stripped of family, freedom, and honour, Ben-Hur survives by endurance and will, returning to seek justice in a world ruled by imperial power, violence, and ambition.First published in 1880, Ben-Hur became one of the most widely read American novels of its age and helped define the modern biblical historical novel. Its most famous sequence-the chariot race-remains one of the great set pieces in popular fiction, but the novel's force is larger than spectacle. Wallace joins adventure, Roman history, family tragedy, religious expectation, and the moral transformation of a man whose desire for vengeance must be measured against the presence of Christ. This complete and unabridged edition preserves the full sweep of the original novel for readers of classic fiction, Christian historical fiction, biblical fiction, ancient-world adventure, and nineteenth-century American literature.