The Penguin Podcast: A Podcast Special to mark the release of THE SIGN, featuring the author Thomas de Wesselow

Summary: Today we have podcast special to mark the global publication this week of The Sign, a major new historical work written by the Cambridge art historian Thomas de Wesselow examining the birth of the Christian religion nearly 2000 years ago in ancient Palestine. As one of the world’s core religions, Christianity has shaped the course of human history. Yet until now, historians have been unable to explain how it really began. How did a 1st-century preacher called Jesus manage to spark a new religion? It is one of the biggest and most profound of all historical mysteries. Now, after years of secret research, the author of The Sign puts all the pieces of the puzzle together and presents a radical, controversial and convincing answer. De Wesselow's revolutionary findings have been kept a secret until today, and in this interview, the author and his editor at Penguin, Joel Rickett, discuss this groundbreaking work of history.