Pontius Pilate: Deciphering A Memory

Schiavone, Aldo

ISBN 10: 1631492357 / ISBN 13: 9781631492358

Published by Liveright/W. W. Norton And Company, New York, New York, U. S. A., 2017

About this Item

First U. S. Edition (First Thus) With The Number Line Indicating A First Printing. Originally Published In Italian. Includes Index And Chapter Notes. The Book Is Bound Within Boards With Mustard Paper Over One Quarter Brick Red. Gilt Titling On The Spine. Yellow Highlighting Throughout, Else Fine. Seller Inventory # 043564

Bibliographic Details

Title: Pontius Pilate: Deciphering A Memory

Publisher: Liveright/W. W. Norton And Company, New York, New York, U. S. A.

Publication Date: 2017

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Edition: First Thus

About this title

Synopsis:

"[Aldo Schiavone] offers new insights into the final days of Jesus...The result is a history still being contested all these centuries later. Schiavone's account nicely lures Pilate out of the shadows, albeit briefly, even providing a measure of rehabilitation." The New York Times

The only historic figure outside the early Christian tradition to whom the Gospels ascribe a dialogue with Jesus is the first-century Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Presiding over the trial and execution of Jesus, Pilate is a figure who has straddled history and legend for over two thousand years. Now, Aldo Schiavone presents a comprehensive, revisionist biography of Pilate that meticulously reconstructs the social, religious and political context in which his fateful encounter with Jesus took place.

Drawing on a wealth of original research, Schiavone weaves together the sources, from epigraphs to the Gospels, from Josephus to Tacitus and Philon, to create a portrait that approaches its subject as if for the first time, without any other intent than to try to explain what happened.

Review:

"In this slender, elegantly translated work geared toward lay readers, Schiavone navigates between memory by the four writers of the Gospels, especially John, the closest to the context of first century Palestine and history Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, 'two first-century intellectuals' to help in the reconstruction of these contested events...A levelheaded, engaging reading of the Gospels and historical account that forms a solid sense of this pivotal personage and his role on the epic stage." --Kirkus Reviews

"In this slender, elegantly translated work geared toward lay readers, Schiavone navigates between memory by the four writers of the Gospels, especially John, the closest to the context of first century Palestine and history Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, 'two first-century intellectuals' to help in the reconstruction of these contested events...A levelheaded, engaging reading of the Gospels and historical account that forms a solid sense of this pivotal personage and his role on the epic stage." --Kirkus Reviews