And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus

This popular history of ancient religions is "a wonderfully illuminating, prodigious tour de force of ecclesiastical anthropology" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
At the time of Jesus' birth, the world was full of gods. Thousands of them jostled, competed and merged with one another. Rulers and ruled turned to religion as a source of order and stability.
To explore the power that religious belief has had over societies through the ages, Selina O'Grady takes the reader on a dazzling journey across the empires of the ancient world. Throughout, she seeks to answer why, amongst the countless religious options available, the empires at the time of Jesus 'chose' the religions they did? Why did China's rulers hitch their fate to Confucianism, a philosophy more than a religion? And why was a tiny Jewish cult led by Jesus eventually adopted by Rome's emperors rather than the cult of Isis which was far more popular and widespread? The Jesus cult , followed by no more than 100 people at the time of his death, should have disappeared in a few generations. Instead it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Why did Christianity grow so quickly to become the predominant world religion?
And Man Created God looks at why and how religions have had such an immense impact on human history and in doing so uncovers the connection between politics and religion—a connection which still defines us in our own age. This is an important, thrilling and necessary new work of history.
"A gifted storyteller. . . . accessibly, engagingly, and vividly evokes the sights, sounds, smells, and colors of much of the ancient world." — Booklist