Robin Jensen brings her expertise as a leading scholar of early Christianity to a history of the pre-eminent Christian symbol. Following a trajectory from the first to the twenty-first century, The Cross fits into the category of surveys written with both the public and academics in mind. Jensen does not shy from the implications of the word “controversy” in her title, from ancient scorn for the very idea of crucifixion to the cross’s association with anti-Judaism and modern lynchings. On a more meta-level, controversy figures in the surprising lack of sound historical evidence for many traditions about the cross. Jensen is careful throughout to qualify as necessary the topics she discusses.

Jensen dedicates the volume to her students who provided feedback on early drafts of the book. Each chapter is headed by a Latin title, but an English subtitle either translates the Latin or relates to it. Endnotes and suggestions for further reading follow an abbreviations list of ancient authors and works, and there is a useful, if not exhaustive, subject index. Readers will particularly appreciate the inclusion of between five and eight full-color illustrations per chapter. Jensen’s prose is clear and the occasional undefined term (i.e., apocryphal, colobium, imitatio Christi) should not deter undergraduates who, along with graduate students and academics, will find much of value in its nine chapters. This review is written in the awareness that individual chapters will work well as assigned readings in courses across the disciplines.