An analytical and deeply rich historical biography of a great American author who is little known or remembered today. Lew Wallace, a fascinating and multitalented historical figure, has consistently been overlooked and lost in academia, articles, and modern books. When he has been discussed, he has often been misrepresented and misunderstood. This is partly due to the sordid and profoundly controversial period in the United States during his lifetime. Yet, Lew wrote one of the most successful and influential novels of the 19th Century. The story he created, and the high-profile controversies he was intimately involved in, have lived on in numerous movies and television programs. Considered by many the most religiously influential novel of the 19th Century. It has been said, "Ben Hur has brought millions to their feet to cheer and millions more to their knees to pray." However, Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ, is not primarily a story of Christ but more a thinly veiled chronicle of Lew's life and the times he lived, set over 2000 years in the past. The reader will be amazed how many of the same issues and controversies in Rome and Judea in Zero A. D. existed from 1827 to 1880 and still exist today. LEW, The Life and Times of the Author of Ben Hur, chronicles both the man and the times. It also highlights how the same issues then, manifest themselves today. Ben Hur is genuinely a "Novel for the Ages," and Lew Wallace is a fascinating and extraordinary study.