Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by…

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Major General Lew Wallace is published on November 12, 1880 by Harper & Brothers.

It is the best-selling American novel from the time of its publication, superseding Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).

It will remain at the top until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936).

Following release of the 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur, which will be seen by tens of millions and win eleven Academy Awards in 1960, book sales will surpass those of Gone with the Wind.

Blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the novel is the first work of fiction to be so honored.

Wallace had resigned from the Union army on November 30, 1865 and, after war's end, had continued to try to help the Mexican army expel the French, and was offered a major general's commission in the Mexican army.

Multiple promises by the Mexicans were never delivered upon, forcing Wallace into deep financial debt.

Wallace holds a number of important political posts during the 1870s and 1880s.

He serves as the appointed governor of New Mexico Territory from 1878 to 1881, during a time of violence and political corruption.