Lew Wallace

The man who would go on to write Ben-Hur, the best-selling novel of the 19th century, began his literary career with The Fair God, an adventurous and romantic chronicle of the invasion of the Aztec empire by the Spaniards. Inspired in part by his service in the Mexican War and later by his government service in Mexico, Wallace developed and refined the novel over the course of a quarter century.

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....

In this Biblical epic, Jewish nobleman Ben-Hur struggles against Roman tyranny in first-century Palestine.

A peace-loving prince of Judea, leads his nation against the wrath of the conquering Romans. His self-imposed destiny brings tragedy to himself, and his people, as he learns to fight, to love, to hate and, finally, to forgive.

Ben-Hur: Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans, vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. The ten commandments: Filmed in Egypt and the Sinai with one of the biggest sets ever constructed for a motion picture, this epic tells the story of the life of Moses. Once favored in the Pharaoh's household, Moses turned his...