"Ben-Hur" is a classic historical novel by Lew Wallace that tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who is falsely accused of treason and sent into slavery by his childhood friend, Messala. The novel begins with the story of the Three Wise Men, who see a bright star shining over the region and follow it through the desert toward the province of Judaea. Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph pass through the Joppa Gate in Jerusalem on their way to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born in a cave on a nearby hillside. The shepherds and the magi both come to worship the newborn Christ, and Herod the Great becomes fearful of the potential threat to his rule. As the story progresses, Ben-Hur's path intersects with that of Jesus, who becomes a central figure in the novel's themes of forgiveness, compassion, and faith. The novel climaxes with the famous chariot race between Ben-Hur and Messala, but who will win this? What will the story conclude? "Ben-Hur" is a sweeping epic that seamlessly weaves together historical events and fictional characters, creating a rich tapestry of storytelling that has captivated readers for over a century.

Christ's robe has a strange effect on the pagan soldier who wins it in a dice game after the Crucifixion.

“Marvelous and entertaining.” —Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey Discover the true stories behind the women who inspired DowntonAbbey and HBO’s The Gilded Age, the heiresses—including a Vanderbilt (railroads), a LaRoche (pharmaceuticals), and a Rogers (oil)—who staked their ground in England, swapping dollars for titles and marrying peers of the British realm. Filled with vivid personalities, grand houses, dashing earls, and a wealth of period details and quotes on the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette, To Marry an English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible. Sex, snobbery, humor, social triumphs (and gaffes), are all recalled in marvelous detail, complete with parties, clothes, scandals, affairs, and 100-year-old gossip that’s still scorching.

In 1925, MGM produced a screen version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which became a classic of silent cinema. Nearly 25 years later, the biblical epic was remade by William Wyler and received an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards, including one for Miklós Rózsa's music. Indeed, the score for Ben-Hur is one of the greatest achievements in Hollywood film music. In this book, Roger Hickman focuses on the confluence of traditions, trends, and innovations that shaped Rózsa's score. Hickman provides an overview of Rózsa's music into the 1960s, looks at the composer's musical influences and the development of his distinctive style, and examines how Rózsa applied these compositional techniques to film scoring. The author then explores the Ben-Hur phenomenon and traces the development of the story and its musical traditions from the original novel into the 21st century. Hickman also examines the conventions of epic films and ties these influences together with a detailed analysis of the score. Miklós Rózsa's Ben-Hur pays tribute to not only one of the great film scores but also to one of Hollywood's most influential composers.