Jerusalem’s Traitor

Josephus, Masada, and the Fall of Judea

By: Desmond Seward

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

When the Jews revolted against Rome in 66 CE, Josephus, a Jerusalem aristocrat, was made a general in his nation’s army. Captured by the Romans, he saved his skin by finding favor with the emperor Vespasian. He then served as an adviser to the Roman legions, running a network of spies inside Jerusalem, in the belief that the Jews’ only hope of survival lay in surrender to Rome.

As a Jewish eyewitness who was given access to Vespasian’s campaign notebooks, Josephus is our only source of information for the war of extermination that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the amazing times in which he lived. He is of vital importance for anyone interested in the Middle East, Jewish history, and the early history of Christianity.

©2009 Desmond Seward (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Entertaining interpretation of Josephus' writings

The author avoids the scholarly traps to deliver an engaging and entertaining interpretation of Josephus' writings.

Wonderful!

A thorough and yet very interesting account of the Jewish-Roman war and the role of Josephus in that conflict and afterward. Loved it!

Wow

If you know nothing about the fall of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem to the Romans, you are missing out on one of the craziest, most bizarre and horrifying chapters in human history. The story had me totally absorbed (if not in shock) during my commutes to work. Other reviewers didn't like the speakers steady vocal style, but he was easy to understand and his tempo worked well for me. I'm glad I listened to it.

good look at historical event

story about haw a small group can bring down an entire nation. author gives a first hand account.

Josephus

This biography of Josephus was great. I thought the author did a good job of balancing Josephus' own claims with considered skepticism, and frequently supplemented Josephus' accounts with those of other historians, archaeology, or just plain logic.

For someone like me who has travelled and studied the land of Palestine, it was fun to picture the places and the events happening there. I'm not sure how it would have been for readers who weren't familiar with those though.

Josephus' life is pretty amazing, and mostly plausible. The wars sounded absolutely horrible though. Certain events didn't quite make sense (such as enemies being close enough to the wall to hit with a rock, but no one had a sharp shooter archer around?).

This book helped me fill in some holes in my first century knowledge, and knowledge of Roman military activities.

The narrator wasn't great. A bit robotic, and didn't narrate to the context, but basically read everything with the same tones.