The biography of Pontius Pilate is the crucial dramatic point of intersection between Christian memory as preserved in the Gospels, Jewish history and Roman imperial history.
It includes an episode of unparalleled importance in the history of the West – the death of Jesus. Pilate is the only historical figure whom Christian tradition records as having had a long dialogue with Jesus. He appears to have uttered and listened to words, made and witnessed gestures, that have accompanied us for two thousand years.
Who was he really? A despot? An accomplice? A bungler? Why do the Gospels flood his figure in a light that blurs its outlines, making all his features ambiguous and elusive? What are they trying to hide?
The book approaches the theme as if for the first time. It does not ignore the huge mass of previous studies, but filters and reworks them in a reconstruction that sets out simply to describe and explain what might have happened. In so doing, however, it offers a surprising solution to an enigma.

«A fresh perspective…and, in the process, offers new insights into the final days of Jesus… Schiavone’s account nicely lures Pilate out of the shadows, albeit briefly, even providing a measure of rehabilitation». Randall Balmer, New York Times Book Review

«In this slender, elegantly translated work geared toward lay readers, Schiavone navigates between memory – by the four writers of the Gospels, especially John, ‘the closest to the context of first century Palestine’ – and history – Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, ‘two first-century intellectuals’ – to help in the reconstruction of these contested events… A levelheaded, engaging reading of the Gospels and historical account that forms a solid sense of this pivotal personage and his role on the epic stage». Kirkus Reviews