The son of David Wallace, an Indiana governor and one-term U.S. congressman, Lew Wallace left school at 16 and became a copyist in the county clerk’s office, reading in his leisure time. After working briefly as a reporter for the Indianapolis Daily Journal, he began to study law in his father’s office. In 1846 Wallace recruited a company for the First Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, with whom he served in the Mexican-American War. His war experience consisted mostly of garrison duty. Morrow, Barbara Olenyik (1994). From Ben-Hur to Sister Carrie: Remembering the Lives and Works of Five Indiana Authors. Indianapolis, Indiana: Guild Press of Indiana. ISBN 978-1-87820-860-6. a b c d e f g h i Amy Lifson (2009). "Ben-Hur: The Book That Shook the World". Humanities. Washington D.C.: National Endowment for the Humanities. 30 (6) . Retrieved April 11, 2017.

Lew Wallace (2003). Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ , with a New Introduction by Tim LaHaye. Signet Classic. p.vii. ISBN 978-0192831996. Popular novels of Christ's life, such as Reverend J. H. Ingraham's The Prince of the House of David (1855), preceded Wallace's novel, while others such as Charles M. Shedon's "In His Steps": What Would Jesus Do? (1897) followed it, but Ben-Hur was among the first to make Jesus a major character in a novel. [6] Members of the clergy and others praised Wallace's detailed description of the Middle East during Jesus's lifetime and encouraged their congregations to read the book at home and during Sunday School. [81] One Roman Catholic priest wrote to Wallace: "The messiah appears before us as I always wished him depicted". [6] Ferraro, William M. (June 2008). "A Struggle for Respect: Lew Wallace's Relationships with Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman After Shiloh". Indiana Magazine of History. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University. 104 (2): 125–152 . Retrieved September 9, 2014. Goodspeed, Edgar J. (1931). Strange New Gospels. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.52 . Retrieved 9 March 2021.Stephens, Gail (2010). The Shadow of Shiloh: Major General Lew Wallace in the Civil War. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87195-287-5.

Ben-Ari, Nitsa (2002). "The Double Conversion of Ben-Hur: A Case of Manipulative Translation" (PDF). Tel Aviv University . Retrieved 2014-10-01.Hanson, Victor Davis (2003). Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50400-4. The author of Ben Hur ’s military career included service in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Later on, he was also appointed as Indiana’s adjutant general. In fact, he even commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment.

In the very beginning, before distractions overtake me, I wish to say that I believe absolutely in the Christian conception of God. As far as it goes, this confession is broad and unqualified, and it ought and would be sufficient were it not that books of mine— Ben-Hur and The Prince of India—have led many persons to speculate concerning my creed ... I am not a member of any church or denomination, nor have I ever been. Not that churches are objectionable to me, but simply because my freedom is enjoyable, and I do not think myself good enough to be a communicant. [1] [58] Composition and publication history [ edit ]Harpers apparently retaliated at Susan Wallace's objections over the binding. In the next two binding states (all first editions), the text was bound in drab, brown mesh cloth (seen occasionally today as a faded gray) over beveled boards [Binding State 2] and brown pebbled cloth over beveled boards [Binding State 3]. Balthasar, an Egyptian, is one of the biblical magi, along with Melchior, a Hindu, and Gaspar, a Greek, who came to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. [24] Coming home, he found himself dissatisfied with his early careers as a soldier, politician, and lawyer (the last he described as “that most detestable of occupations”) and began writing in earnest again. He had his first novel, The Fair God, published in 1873. A tale about the conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish, its inspiration came from Wallace’s reading of William Prescott’s Conquest of Mexico and from his own experiences there.