My Name Was Judas

Sep 13, 2025 3:13 AM

Author:C. K. Stead

My Name Was Judas

We all know the story of Jesus told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but what about the version according to Judas?

In this witty, original and teasingly controversial account, some forty years after the death of Jesus, Judas finally tells the story as he remembers it. Looking back on his childhood and youth from an old age the gospel writers denied him, Judas recalls his friendship with Jesus; their schooling together; their families; the people who would go on to be disciples and followers; their journeys together and their dealings with the powers of Rome and the Temple.

His is a story of friendship and rivalry, of a time of uncertainty and enquiry, a testing of belief, endurance and loyalty.

Reviews

C. K. Stead is challenging, fun, urbane and brilliant. Read him

—— Spectator

Stead's book delights in subtle comedy and takes care to puncture all kinds of minor myths...Written with glowing simplicity and rich in delicate humour...[A] thought-provoking, witty and highly topical novel

—— James Wood , Daily Telegraph

[An] elegant, calm novel...Stead writes a cool, reasonable prose......Stead maintains an eye unblinkingly opposed to the transcendental

—— Guardian

A subtly potent revisionist account of the life and death of Jesus

—— Sunday Times

A gifted and intelligent novelist

—— Independent

CK Stead, New Zealand's most distinguished man of letters - scholar, critic and poet, as well as novelist - has written a fiction that is remarkable, intelligent and moving

—— Allan Massie , Scotsman

Brilliantly imagined...Among Stead's many achievements is a convincing social, political and physical backdrop...his creation of a coherent, rival story - clever, moving and sometimes witty, with fully human characters - is nothing short of a revelation

—— Sam Phipps , Herald

A pleasingly unpredictable mix of traditional and radical... It's clever, thought-provoking

—— Independent

'A grand recounting of the second Punic War...Durham's epic is truly a big, magnificent, sprawling story complete with a sizable cast of compelling characters, intricately drawn battle scenes and fluid, graceful prose'

—— Booklist (starred review)

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