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sleepyboi2988's review against another edition
2.0
Its hard to even describe this book, its part biography, part a dissection of Josephus' writing, and mostly an examination of Judaism through the lens of the time period and after. The biography and the dissection of Josephus' writing is very good, but its just too interrupted with pages and pages on random Jewish theories and facts (Even addressing parts of the Holocaust). It just sadly doesnt seem to come together and comes across rather convoluted as if the author attempted to cover too many topics at once.
If its a biography of Josephus, thats what I want to read about, not all the other stuff about the religion outside of what he wouldve been dealing with in his day. I understand that to understand Josephus one has to look at the religious aspects of the time and those parts of the book are good, but all the extra stuff about the Middle Ages, Crusades, Inquisition, and Holocaust really serve to confuse rather than explain.
If its a biography of Josephus, thats what I want to read about, not all the other stuff about the religion outside of what he wouldve been dealing with in his day. I understand that to understand Josephus one has to look at the religious aspects of the time and those parts of the book are good, but all the extra stuff about the Middle Ages, Crusades, Inquisition, and Holocaust really serve to confuse rather than explain.
hagiasophia's review against another edition
1.0
currently taking recommendations for actual biographies/analyses of Josephus
dngoldman's review against another edition
2.0
This book covers two of my favorite topics - jewish history of the late second temple and roman History. This book has some real strengths but some very glaring weaknesses that severely limit it's usefulness. On the positive side, the book is a readable review of the life of Joseph. It does a good job of adding some context to the history, particularly adding information about the politics of Rome. You really get a feel for how jewish Zealots created a schism within the Jewish people and lead a fight with Rome that had disastrous consequences. Basically leading to Jews being outcasts for 2000 years.
yet, the book has some big problems. When fleshing out historical characters, there is fine line between intelligent speculation on the character's motives and simply guessing. Too often Raphael engages in the latter, speculation about who Josephus knew or how he felt. Further, the last 100 pages take a very odd turn. In each chapter Raphael summarizing huge swaths of history on a particular subject (anti-semitism, jewish intellectuals) relating them certain "themes" about Josephus. It's hard to know the point of these chapters. They are so general and cover so much ground that they do little to explain the subject. I can't quite see the point. Is it to show that Josephus' was so influential? Unlikely as he remained very little known. More likely the chapters are to show that Josephus exemplified a "type" that continues on. This is very thin and these chapters are basically useless.
yet, the book has some big problems. When fleshing out historical characters, there is fine line between intelligent speculation on the character's motives and simply guessing. Too often Raphael engages in the latter, speculation about who Josephus knew or how he felt. Further, the last 100 pages take a very odd turn. In each chapter Raphael summarizing huge swaths of history on a particular subject (anti-semitism, jewish intellectuals) relating them certain "themes" about Josephus. It's hard to know the point of these chapters. They are so general and cover so much ground that they do little to explain the subject. I can't quite see the point. Is it to show that Josephus' was so influential? Unlikely as he remained very little known. More likely the chapters are to show that Josephus exemplified a "type" that continues on. This is very thin and these chapters are basically useless.
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