Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt against Rome, AD66 by Neil Faulkner

Ancient history can often be a very dry read, a consequence of both scholarly uncertainty about the events and the remove at which they exist from the reader. This account of the Jewish uprising of the first century by Neil Faulkner makes amends for this by applying a Marxist perspective to the tale, casting the Romans and their Hellenised client elite (including the temple authorities) as the oppressing classes, and the mostly rural peasantry over which they rule as the oppressed. It's an interesting and very worthwhile approach - while it obviously has it's limitations, it lends an immediacy to the story and empathy towards its participants.
The uprising, the subsequent sacking of Jersusalem, and destruction of the temple were among the central events influencing the formation of Christianity and in the formation of what we now know as Judaism. Faulkner covers this, the prior history of the region, Roman politics, military strategy and much else besides, covering an impressive amount of ground in less than 300 pages.