Drawing upon Jewish scholarship and a vast knowledge of the ancient world, this extraordinary account attempts to reconstruct the historical Jesus by placing emphasis on the narrative of his life. Similar to "The Da Vinci Code" in mood, this revised edition untangles the distortions and age-old problems of the original texts to uncover the truth behind Jesus's words and actions. It also includes a detailed account of the composition and reception of the book--when it first published, it was deemed controversial, its reviews were hostile, and its author was twice sued for libel.