For the Freedom of Zion
The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE

This book is a blow-by-blow account of the Judean revolt against Rome. Rogers relies heavily on the memoirs of Flavius Josephus (who fought in the war) but adds speculation about what motivated Romans and Jews to make the disastrous decisions they made. For example, the rebellion was triggered by th......more

Definitely the definitive history of the First Jewish - Roman War, although not an easy read. While I have been to Masada and have seen the ruins of the Roman camps and the Masada fortifications, the scale of the destruction of Judea was beyond my scope of knowledge - truly a holocaust! One of the m......more

A major accomplishment, "For the Freedom of Zion" covers the great revolt of Jews against Romans in 66-74. Most of the book relies on one source only, given that only one contemporary author presented a detailed history of the war: Josephus. I could perhaps have read the primary source instead of th......more

An impressive account of the Jewish Revolt against Rome and the Imperial response This is a very impressive work of narrating the time leading up to the Jewish Revolt against Rome and the war between Rome and Jerusalem. This is a historical event with one primary source, Josephus the captured Jewish......more

Excellent book combining a clear-eyed (and often dryly acerbic) use of Josephus with archaeological evidence, military logistics, and quick evaluations of scholarly debates. I did find it a very slow start- it took me two years to get through the lead up to the revolt and two weeks to read the narra......more