This fine work will be highly appealing to readers interested in the history of the Bible or the early church, but will be less appealing to others—despite Patrick Lawlor's clear and focused delivery. Lawlor handles both the author’s prose style and the work’s many foreign names and terms smoothly. The difficulty comes from the structure of the presentation. As a reference that recounts the biographies of key figures surrounding the life of Jesus—in alphabetical order—this book is fascinating, but overwhelming. It is impossible to select the figure whose life one hears, and the very cross-referencing that would make it useful for reference makes it repetitive for listening. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine