The Last Days of Jesus: His Life and Times

Reviewed by: Ann Marie Townsend - South Berwick Public Library, South Berwick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 12, 2015

Review

A special Illustrated edition based on the 2014 book Killing Jesus. This is an illustrated version of the book that is written as a history book, rather than a religious or spiritual text. It explains the cast of characters, the family of Jesus, writers of the bible, patriarchs of the Jewish people, Roman rulers, temple priests and religious groups and others and much more. O'Reilly does a good job of setting and explaining time and place during the life of Jesus. The culture is well explained and is good background material for those reading or studying a bible or biblical times. The illustrations are very well done and really add to the text. The photographs and illustrations are well placed in the text, are identified and says where they are from on that page. This is good background to help readers to understand the life of Jesus. It completely leaves out religion as the purpose is historical facts. It does not explain why Jesus' age of death is listed at 36, rather than the accepted age of 33. Also the last words of Jesus are left out. Useful to learn about time and place in historical context of subject. Includes Note to Readers about Jesus being one of the most influential men who ever lived, Prologue, Glossary, Time Line of Jesus's Life, The Author Recommends, Bibliography and Index.

Overall Book Score: fair