Last week I offered my extra copy of James L. Papandrea, A Week in the Life of Rome (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2019) to one of the readers of this blog. I do this from time to time when I have an extra copy of something I think people might like. Sometimes I buy a book and discover later I already had a copy (people often associate this with impending old age, but I blame almost anything else). I said I would give it away yesterday, but I got busy with other things and completely forgot.
There were twenty-one entries this time, and I was happy to see several new names from previous giveaways. I sorted the names randomly and then used random.org to generate the winner. And the winner is….
Matt Lantz
Everyone congratulate Matt (or curse his luck). Matt, contact me via plong at gmail.com or a direct message on Twitter (@plong42) with a mailing address and I will get this right out to you.
About the book: Since the “week in the life of” series are novels by biblical scholars, about half the book is academic side-notes explaining the background details of the story. I have read all three of the currently available volumes and find them to be entertaining and easy reading. These are not academic books, but they do present the history and archaeology of the Roman world for a popular audience. I reviewed the book a few weeks ago, concluding “this book offers an entertaining insight into the relationship of Christianity and Rome in the mid-first century. Papandrea draws out the agonizing decisions a person living in the Roman world would have to make in order to be a Christian in an entirely pagan world. The book will be an easy introduction for readers interested in the background of the Roman world and early Christianity.”