{"product_id":"the-life-of-herod-the-great-9780063161016","title":"The Life of Herod the Great","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great--not the villain the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of valor and vision.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 1950s, as a continuation of \u003cem\u003eMoses, Man of the Mountain\u003c\/em\u003e, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston's retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the \"slaughter of the innocents,\" but a forerunner of Christ--a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod \"appears to have been singled out and especially endowed to attract the lightning of fate,\" Hurston writes. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePortraying Herod within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston's unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling, and misunderstood leader fully into focus. Hurston shared her findings about Herod's rise, his reign, and his waning days in letters to friends and associates. Text from three of these letters concludes the manuscript in an intimate way. Scholar-Editor Deborah Plant's \"Commentary: A Story Finally Told\" assesses Hurston's pioneering work and underscores Hurston's perspective that the first century BCE has much to teach us and that the lens through which to view this dramatic and stirring era is the life and times of Herod the Great.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Zora Neale Hurston,Deborah G. Plant\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Amistad Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.96h x 5.29w x 1.03d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780063161016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlant, Deborah G.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eDeborah G. Plant is an African American Literature and Africana Studies Independent Scholar and literary critic specializing in the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. She is editor of \u003cem\u003eThe Life of Herod the Great\u003c\/em\u003e (2025) by Zora Neale Hurston and author of \u003cem\u003eOf Greed and Glory: In Pursuit of Freedom for All\u003c\/em\u003e (2024); editor of \u003cem\u003eBarracoon: The Story of the Last \"Black Cargo\u003c\/em\u003e\" (2018), a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller, by Zora Neale Hurston; and author of \u003cem\u003eAlice Walker: A Woman for Our Times \u003c\/em\u003e(2017), a philosophical biography. She is also editor of \u003cem\u003eThe Inside Light: New Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston\u003c\/em\u003e (2010); and author of \u003cem\u003eZora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit\u003c\/em\u003e (2007) and \u003cem\u003eEvery Tub Must Sit On Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston\u003c\/em\u003e (1995). She holds a BA from Southern University, an MA from Atlanta University, and MA and Ph. D. degrees in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was instrumental in founding the University of South Florida's Department of Africana Studies and chaired the department for five years. Plant resides in Florida.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHurston, Zora Neale:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZora Neale Hurston\u003c\/strong\u003e wrote four novels (\u003cem\u003eJonah's Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee\u003c\/em\u003e) and was still working on her fifth novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Life of Herod the Great\u003c\/em\u003e, when she died; three books of folklore (\u003cem\u003eMules and Men\u003c\/em\u003e and the posthumously published \u003cem\u003eGo Gator and Muddy the Water \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eEvery Tongue Got to Confess\u003c\/em\u003e); a work of anthropological research (\u003cem\u003eTell My Horse\u003c\/em\u003e); an autobiography \u003cem\u003e(Dust Tracks on a Road\u003c\/em\u003e); an international bestselling ethnographic work (\u003cem\u003eBarracoon\u003c\/em\u003e); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Zora Neale Hurston \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47566703952029,"sku":"9780063161016","price":39.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_71b03de9-ed14-4baa-b8e2-d976c912037c.jpg?v=1768315297","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-life-of-herod-the-great-9780063161016","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}