After the crucifixion, Jesus's followers - led by his brother James the Just - remained devout Jews, vigorously opposed to the Roman occupiers. But a rival faction emerged, via the charismatic itinerant Paul of Tarsus. Some called him a Saint and some a liar. But Paul began telling stories that would transform a small sect of Judaism into a world religion.

The Tongues of Men or Angels is a dazzling act of imagination and learning. Jonathan Trigell shows the night sky of the Galilee lit not by guiding stars, but by flames of terror; he shows contested soil, on which miracles were performed and battles raged; he shows men of flesh and of blood, by turns loving and brutal. In doing so he unseals a tale that has been waiting through long ages.