And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus
In this popular history of the Roman and neighboring empires around the time of the first century, O’Grady focuses on the state’s use of religion to advance its interests, including the difficulties these empires experienced governing religiously diverse populations. As a work of reportage, the book is eminently successful, nicely chronicling, for example, the explosive social, political, and religious tensions in Judaea leading up to Jesus’ trial and execution. Yet, often these reports amount to little more than a collection of historical vignettes. Although the geographic swath she examines, extending from the Mediterranean to China, is impressive, it scarcely comprises, as the book’s subtitle boldly asserts, the “world” at the time of Jesus. O’Grady is, however, a gifted storyteller. Her writing accessibly, engagingly, and vividly evokes the sights, sounds, smells, and colors of much of the ancient world. This invitation may be enough to spur readers who want to delve in more closely. --Christopher McConnell