nickjonesreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
As a Biblical scholar and historian you have to read the primary sources. I have always wanted to engage Josephus for myself but felt daunted by the task. Don't be daunted--it's not that hard. However, it was difficult to keep my momentum going when the little sections started blurring together. First I led some soldiers to Sepphoris and then we went to Tiberius and then Justus was treacherous so I fought him. The men of Galilee love me...then they listened to Jonathan and rebelled against me. I have a man crush on Vespasian.
It was interesting to see Jewish idioms outside of the Bible and villages in the Galilee that never appear in the Bible at all. The title itself may mislead modern readers because this is mainly an account of Josephus' military campaigns and peace keeping ventures. As he mentions at one point, he is trying to counter what another historian has written about these events and about Josephus' actions.
Important for a scholar but not the most enjoyable read.
It was interesting to see Jewish idioms outside of the Bible and villages in the Galilee that never appear in the Bible at all. The title itself may mislead modern readers because this is mainly an account of Josephus' military campaigns and peace keeping ventures. As he mentions at one point, he is trying to counter what another historian has written about these events and about Josephus' actions.
Important for a scholar but not the most enjoyable read.
samiam10's review
5.0
This was my first book by Flavius Josephus and although I have heard of him and read excerpts from his writing, I had no idea how articulate and clearly stated his histories could be. It is likely that the translators polished the wording some, but overall I can highly recommend Josephus as a history source and for readability. His life was contemporary with the life of Jesus Christ and following that the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army and his autobiography is written a bit like a Cliff Notes version of his life. There are so many intrigues and battles, both political and physical in such a short book that one gets a sense that that time in history was purely chaotic, but if one stretches the apparent timeline out several decades, then it becomes more sensical. Recommended.
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