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Wallace wrote the manuscript for Ben-Hur, his second and best-known novel, during his spare time at Crawfordsville, and completed it in Santa Fe, while serving as the territorial governor of New Mexico.
Humanities editor Amy Lifson named Ben-Hur as the most influential Christian book of the 19th century, while others have identified it as one of the best-selling novels of all time. Carl Van Doren wrote that Ben-Hur was, along with Uncle Tom's Cabin, the first fiction many Americans read.
- Lewis Wallace
- 1880
Lewis Wallace (born April 10, 1827, Brookville, Indiana, U.S.—died February 15, 1905, Crawfordsville, Indiana) was an American soldier, lawyer, diplomat, and author who is principally remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur.
- Marc Leepson
Lew Wallace wrote Ben-Hur in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and finished it in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Learn about the novel, play, movies, and other adaptations.
Ben-Hur, historical novel by Lewis Wallace, published in 1880 and widely translated. It depicts the oppressive Roman occupation of ancient Palestine and the origins of Christianity. The Jew Judah Ben-Hur is wrongly accused by his former friend, the Roman Messala, of attempting to kill a Roman.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Lew Wallace was the author of seven major works, including Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the best-selling novel of the 19th century. Wallace began writing his first novel in the late 1840s while employed in the Marion County Clerk’s office.
36,348 ratings1,413 reviews. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace is one of the most popular and beloved 19th century American novels. This faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary ...
