Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Random House, $27), by Reza Aslan, is a fascinating book to read, appreciate, and to talk about. Wading into an already well-explored and much discussed field, Aslan has accomplished the improbable. “Meticulously researched” are not our words, but it’s absolutely true, as the book concludes with sixty pages of explanatory endnotes for those interested in further exploration. Yet combining a layman’s language with academic acumen, Aslan takes the complex and sometimes mystifying story of the historical Jesus—the Jewish aspirations through messianism, revolt, and temple politics, and the context of Roman Palestine—and expounds on it in a freshly gripping and informative way.