Josephus - the Jewish war

'It is God then, God Himself who is bringing with the Romans fire to purge the Temple and is blotting out the City, brimful of corruption'

Josephus' account of a war marked by treachery and atrocity is a superbly detailed and evocative record of the Jewish rebellion against Rome between AD 66 and 70. Originally a rebel leader, Josephus changed sides after he was captured to become a Rome-appointed negotiator, and so was uniquely placed to observe these turbulent events, from the siege of Jerusalem to the final heroic resistance and mass suicides at Masada. His account provides much of what we know about the history of the Jews under Roman rule, with vivid portraits of key figures such as the Emperor Vespasian and Herod the Great. Often self justifying and divided in its loyalties, The Jewish War nevertheless remains one of the most immediate accounts ever written of war, its heroism and its horrors.

G. A. Williamson's translation makes this complex work accessible to the general reader, while Mary Smallwood's revisions bring the benefits of more recent advances in scholarship, making this the definitive edition.