Audiobooks by Lew Wallace

Ben Hur: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

A thrilling adaptation of Lew Wallace's epic biblical tale of betrayal, destiny and redemption. Judea, 26 AD. Two men's lives run almost in parallel. One is a prince of Jerusalem. The other is known as 'He that is born King of the Jews'... When Judah Ben Hur visits his childhood playmate Messala, now a Roman tribune, he hopes to rekindle an old friendship. But their meeting has devastating consequences. Betrayed and falsely accused of attempted murder, Judah's property is confiscated and his family arrested - and he himself is sent to the galleys. En route to the sea, he meets a carpenter's son, who gives him water - and looking into the man's eyes, he almost loses his desire for vengeance. Freed from slavery years later, Judah travels to Antioch, where he hears of a King who will lead the Jewish people, and vows to go and fight for him. He also encounters his former friend Messala once more, and seizes the opportunity to crush him in a high-stakes chariot race. Emerging victorious, he journeys back to Jerusalem to find his lost mother and sister, and raise a resistance force against Rome. But as his life intersects with that of the King he champions, he comes to realise that Jesus of Nazareth is not a warrior, but a saviour - and that the path to his kingdom lies through forgiveness. First published in 1880, Ben Hur was famously adapted as a 1959 blockbuster starring Charlton Heston, which won a record 11 Oscars. This spectacular, cinematic dramatisation boasts a stirring score by award-winning composer Wilfredo Acosta, and is brought to life by a stunning cast including Julian Glover, Samuel West and Michael Gambon. Production credits Written by Lew Wallace Dramatised by Catherine Czerkawska Directed by Glyn Dearman Music and sound design by Wilfredo Acosta Iras' song sung by Elizabeth Mansfield Cast Judah Ben Hur - Jamie Glover Messala - Samuel West Angel/Esther - Deborah Berlin Amrah - Phyllis Calvert Mother - Margaret John Arrius/Man 2 - Derek Waring Tirzah/Maid - Natasha Pyne Chief of Rowers/Man 1 - Don McCorkindale Man 1/Servant/Roman 1/Man at Inn - Joshua Towb Thord/Man 2/Passenger/Servant - Michael Tudor Barnes Man in Boat/Malluch - Gavin Muir Simonides - Bernard Hepton Sheik Ilderim - Freddie Jones Balthasar - Michael Hordern Drusus - Ian Masters Iras - Becky Hindley Jesus/Man 3 - Peter Yapp Pilate/Guide/John the Baptist - Neville Jason Assassin - Oliver Senton Man 4 - Peter Whitman Michael Gambon reads from the Bible First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 19 March - 9 April 1995 © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Lew Wallace (Author), Full Cast, Jamie Glover, Michael Gambon, Samuel West (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben Hur A Tale Of The Christ

Ben-Hur is a story of two very different heroes. Judah Ben-Hur, a prince of Jerusalem, is involved in an accident to the Roman procurator which is taken to be intentional. He is seized and sent to the fleet as a galley-slave, while his family is imprisoned and the family goods confiscated. When Ben-Hur saves the fleet captain from drowning after his ship is sunk in a fight with pirates, that officer adopts him as son and heir. With Roman training, Ben-Hur distinguishes himself in the arena and the palistrae and appears to be on the way to high military command. With the help of a faithful family retainer and a generous Arab sheik, Ben-Hur is enabled to take part in a widely touted chariot race, where one of the other charioteers is the boyhood friend who connived to punish him for the accident and split his estate. That rival is crippled, financially and bodily, in a no-holds-barred race (memorable from the 1959 movie with Charlton Heston). Ben-Hur turns his attention to the prophesied King of the Jews, when through the sheik he meets Balthasar, one of the Three Wise Men, and hears of the child born years ago. Will Ben-Hur be the general who brings victories to the King, and finally liberates Israel from the oppressive Roman yoke? In his quest for the answer, Ben-Hur seeks out the Nazarene, now rumored to be The Messiah. THAT hero needs no introduction. Curious about the lack of kingly trappings and ambitions about this man, Ben-Hur begins to suspect that his kingdom is not of this world. And with him, we receive a gut-wrenching eye-witness view of Jesus’ arrest, humiliation, and crucifixion. Produced by Macc Kay Production executive Avalon Giuliano ICON Intern Eden Garret Giuliano ©2021 Eden Garret Giuliano (P) 2021 Eden Garret Giuliano Geoffrey Giuliano is the author of over thirty internationally bestselling biographies, including the London Sunday Times bestseller 'Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney' and 'Dark Horse:

Lew Wallace (Author), Geoffrey Giuliano And The Icon Ensemble (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben Hur (Ungekürzt)

Der Roman schildert das Leben des fiktiven jüdischen Prinzen Judah Ben Hur, der zu Beginn des 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. wegen eines angeblichen Attentats auf den römischen Statthalter von Judäa zur Galeerenstrafe verurteilt wird, später aber in seine Heimat zurückkehrt und eine Aufstandsbewegung gegen die Römer plant. In einem Wagenrennen besiegt er seinen früheren Freund und späteren Widersacher, den Römer Messala. Ben Hur bricht seine Aufstandspläne ab, als er von der Glaubensbotschaft des gekreuzigten Jesus überzeugt wird. Oftmals verfilmt, zuletzt unter der Regie von Rainer Werner Fassbinder mit Hanna Schygulla.

Lew Wallace (Author), Karlheinz Gabor (Narrator)

Audiobook

Lew Wallace, Ben Hur

Christopher Lukas, Lew Wallace (Author), Albert Johannes, Dénes Törzs, Eduard Wildner, Manfred Schermutzki, Peter Folken, René Genesis, Werner Cartano (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Called 'the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century,' Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ was a best-seller in the 1880s, eclipsing the sales of Uncle Tom's Cabin and, later, Gone With the Wind to become the best-selling American novel of all time. The story recounts the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, a fictional Jewish prince from Jerusalem, who is enslaved by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st century and becomes a charioteer and a Christian. Parallel with Judah's narrative is the unfolding story of Jesus, who comes from the same region and is a similar age. The novel reflects themes of betrayal, conviction, and redemption, with a revenge plot that leads to a story of love and compassion.

Lew Wallace (Author), Josh Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

One of the most popular American novels of all time, Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur vividly reimagines the mighty Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. The saga of Judah Ben-Hur's spiritual journey from slavery to vengeance to redemption is both a vivid historical adventure and a powerful story of one man's religious awakening.

Lew Wallace (Author), Todd McLaren (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben Hur

Ben Hur could be said to be the first blockbuster. When it was published in 1880, it sold over two million copies and was translated into numerous languages. It combines all the best elements of popular classic, epic and action story against a background of authoritative historical detail. The pace and immediacy of Ben Hur was the basis of its appeal to film-makers - Charlton Heston's portrayal of the title role is one of the classics of the cinema. Wallace's original novel has been largely forgotten now, but as this vivid reading shows, the story - together with the sweeping rhythm of the writer's prose - make it ideally suited to the audiobook.

Lew Wallace (Author), Jeff Harding (Narrator)

Audiobook

Ben-Hur

One of the most popular American novels of all time, Ben-Hur vividly reimagines the oppressive Roman occupation of ancient Palestine and the rise of Christianity. The saga of Judah Ben-Hur's spiritual journey from slavery to vengeance to redemption is both a vivid historical adventure and a powerful story of one man's religious awakening. Born the son of a Jewish nobleman, Ben-Hur is condemned to a life of slavery when his former friend wrongly accuses him of attempting to kill a Roman official. While his mother and sister are imprisoned in a leper colony, Ben-Hur heroically escapes to challenge Massala's domination in a chariot race. Before the cheering multitudes at the Roman Circus in Antioch, he achieves his revenge and glory. But it is later, at the foot of a cross on a hill in Jerusalem, that he fulfills his true destiny. "This is a performance of sustained excellence-sustained across a range of characters and emotions, across time and geography. Male and female, young and old, the self-absorbed and the selfless, the worldly and the spiritual-all are within the compass of James's command. His reading is at once evocative, moving, and entertaining."-AudioFile

Lew Wallace (Author), Lloyd James (Narrator)

Audiobook