A fascinating portrait of a German village and the millennial production of its controversial Passion play, which has been staged once in each decade since 1634.

In the summer of 2000, a half-million spectators from around the world will once again descend upon the small Bavarian village of Oberammergau, which despite wars, military occupation, religious censorship, and threats of boycott, has continued to honor its ancestral vow to stage the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus once every ten years.

In this wide-ranging cultural history, James Shapiro discusses the traditions and troubles of Oberammergau, from the legendary origins of its Passion play in the seventeenth century to the villagers' current--and ambivalent--efforts to rid their play of anti-Semitism, a charge that has stuck ever since Adolf Hitler praised its portrayal of "the whole muck and mire of Jewry."

Shapiro illuminates the ways in which the Oberammergau Passion play has become a litmus test of tradition, interfaith dialogue, and the role of spectacle in reawakening belief. His book also reveals how Oberammergau has become a remarkable prism through which we can view divergent ways of thinking about culture, commerce, and religion.