This is a meticulously researched and engagingly written account of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, and it’s one I wish I’d read a long time ago. Mel Gibson’s film The Passion brought the reality of this single week in human history alive with all the pressing physicality of its sights and sounds; Nick Page’s book does it again, but this time looking carefully at the details, explaining, comparing, reflecting, drawing you into the story, bridging the gaps. We are helped to imagine procession and anti-procession entering opposite ends of the city of Jerusalem, as Pilate and Jesus arrive for the festival. We look at the nature of the Passover meal and its timing, at the pressure on Pilate and how he handles it, and at the surprising power structure of the high priestly family. We examine the identities of the women around the cross, the young man who escaped from the soldiers (was it Lazarus?), the soldiers themselves (Samaritan conscripts?), and the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Jesus’ uncle and his son?). We learn about the details of crucifixion and the geography of Jerusalem, the garden, the site of the cross - extremely helpful for those, like me, who have not been there. And all this in a humorous style which carries a no frills, no piety tone of realism, backed up with clear timelines and pertinent illustrations. Nick Page finally wraps it all up for us by wondering quite how we came to take this blood and guts story, this pressing tumble of political reality, and turn it into a picturebook. ‘We took him and we forgot the history. We stripped away the nasty stuff: the politics and the poverty and all that. Then we washed the blood off, sat him on a throne, dressed him in a robe of purple and turned him into an emperor. We kept him well away from the tables of the moneychangers and we turned the means of his execution into a piece of jewellery.’ The book’s conclusion? ‘This is the message of the Longest Week. It’s not really about facts and dates and theories. It’s about one man and our response to his life’. The Longest Week helps us to make that response. Originally published as a hardback in 2009