Ben-Hur

By: Lew Wallace

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

An American classic, Ben-Hur is both a vivid historical epic and the powerful story of one man's spiritual journey from slavery to vengeance to redemption. Born the son of a Jewish nobleman, Ben-Hur is condemned to the galleys for life for accidentally dislodging a piece of tile that falls on the Roman procurator. He is betrayed by his best friend, manages to escape his imprisonment, and gains revenge and glory before the cheering multitudes in the chariot races at the Roman circus in Antioch. Later, he fulfills his true destiny at the foot of a cross on a hill in Jerusalem.

(P)2000 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"This is a performance of sustained excellence, sustained across a range of characters and emotions, across time and geography. Male and female, young and old, the self-absorbed and the selfless, the worldly and the spiritual; all are within the compass of James' command. His reading is at once evocative, moving, and entertaining." (AudioFile)

Lover of books

Great novel. Spell binding from beginning to end. I recoMMEND that it be read by all.

Quietly Performed

Lloyd James performance is quiet, somber demeanor. His tone does not very much even in climatic parts, but keeps a very reverent feeling to the sub-story of Jesus Christ. His softness of tone doesn't take away from the story. It is well worth listening too. The story is quite interesting, never seeing the movie with Charlton Heston I was surprised to know that it is a story of a young man that was living at the same time as Jesus Christ and his part in the revolution of the Jews at the time of Roman rule. Lew Wallace was such a creative genius. He took such great time to be detailed about the background of story. I believe that it is really worth the time to listen to this masterpiece.

great book a lot of time invested

I've heard of Ben Hur and knew he was a Roman but had no idea the connection to Jesus and other parts of the Bible. This was a well-written book and I can't wait to see how it compares to the movie

Epic story

The story is beautiful and beautifully written. Lloyd James' reading of it is masterful...I wonder at the difficulty he had with all the "thou" and thine! As a result of this book, I feel compelled to seek out more of Lew Wallace and of the reader.

Classic for a reason!

This must read was beautifully narrated Loyd James. Old Rome and Judea came to life along with the prejudices and realities of class warfare. The plot line could be called somewhat predictable but the story is told with rich history and stories, bringing depth and complexity to the story.

ben hur

good book, hard to understand narrator at times

Stunning Story

I read this long book with all the detailed description many years ago. I thought it was a more complete story than the beautiful movie version starring Charlton Heston.

Yes, it took effort and patience to listen to some parts, but it was worth it. It is a wonderful and moving story with memorable characters I think about even after I’ve finished the book.

finally read it

wanted to read this for like forever. Now that I found it in Audible I loved it.

Lovely story beautifully read

Having seen all three versions of the movie and all of them being quite different, I decided to go to the source material and I'm glad I did. The story is quite different from the movie versions, very rich in detail with many more important characters and beautifully written. Short on time, I elected to hear the audible version first as the novel is quite lengthy. The performance was excellent, marred only by some audio editing glitches which while quite noticeable are easily forgiven. I highly recommend both the book and the audible version.

excellent perspective on the resurrection story.

I loved this book, sometimes it was a little slow but it has an intriguing story, well developed characters and much intrigue. the depiction of Jesus Christ near the end, from Palm Sunday to the crucifixion added a sense of weight and realism like I've never experienced before, though I've known the story my whole life. I would highly recommend.