Judas: The Troubling History of the Renegade Apostle

"Books of the Year" selection for 2015 in both the Independent and Scotland's Sunday Herald.

'Stanford says a lot about the many faces and other attributes of Judas, and does so very engagingly; his book manages to be fun as well as sometimes profound, and it is as much an enjoyable tour of Christian art and thought as an account of a 2000-year-old traitor': Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch in The Times

'Stanford is a cool, witty guide. There is no better navigator through the space in which art, culture and spirituality meet. His biography of the Devil is a masterpiece. This is an easier book, written in a friendlier style, but the research is just as thorough': Cole Moreton in the Independent on Sunday

Ultimate traitor or ultimate scapegoat? This historical, theological and cultural portrait of the apostle who betrayed Jesus with a kiss explores how the very name Judas has become synonymous with human evil. But is he the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice? As Bob Dylan once put it one of his songs, ‘you’ll have to decide whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side.’

Published in London by Hodder and Stoughton in hardback in April 2015 (ISBN 9781444754726) and in paperback March 2016 (ISBN 9781444754711).  Also available in Kindle. US edition from Counterpoint ISBN 978161902-7091, in French (Fayard) ISBN 9782213693996, and in Dutch (De Bezige Bij) 9789023496519. Russian (Eksmo), Polish (Jagiellonian University Press), Brazilian (Editora Globo) and Korean (Miraebook) editions are in preparation.