11 in-print translations and 5 audiobooks, compared by who made them, when, and what each one is actually trying to do — Josephus.
The short answer. There is no single best translation of The Complete Works, because the editions are optimised for different things: for a first read, the editions described as the most readable are G. A. Williamson (revised by E. Mary Smallwood), Paul L. Maier; on audio the choice is mostly which translation is being read and whether it is one narrator or a full cast.
Every claim below is the publisher’s or translator’s own description, shown next to it, so you can judge rather than take our word. And you can read the whole thing free on this site first.
Scriptorium Press publishes a complete new plain-English translation of The Complete Works, free, with a complete free audiobook. No account, no paywall — 30 works in this volume.
Start reading free → Free audiobook → Whole book on one page →Older translations, out of copyright, hosted free by Internet Archive, LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer, University of Chicago), Perseus Digital Library, Project Gutenberg, Wikisource. Not our work and not affiliate links — they are here because they are genuinely useful.
| Translator | Year | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Whiston | 1737 | prose; standard/classic 18th-c. translation, still the most widely read English Josephus | LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer, University of Chicago) → |
| William Whiston | 1737 | hyperlinked by book/chapter/section, Antiquities entry point; Wars/Apion/Life also on Perseus under same collection | Perseus Digital Library → |
| William Whiston | 1737 (this reprint 1879) | scan-backed public-domain text; companion volume at en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Jews | Wikisource → |
| William Whiston | 1737 | plain text/HTML/EPUB download | Project Gutenberg → |
| William Whiston | 1737 | plain text/HTML/EPUB download | Project Gutenberg → |
| William Whiston | 1737 | plain text/HTML/EPUB download | Project Gutenberg → |
| H. St. J. Thackeray | 1926-1928 | Greek-English facing-page scholarly Loeb edition, now public domain (1926); PDF/EPUB/full-text download | Internet Archive → |
| H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus | 1926-1943 | additional Loeb volumes of the same set, freely downloadable | Internet Archive → |
Sorted as the research file records them. The note on each row is that edition’s own published description.
| Translator | Year | Publisher | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G. A. Williamson (revised by E. Mary Smallwood) | 1959 | Penguin Classics | prose, most-recommended readable standard, revised edition still the popular default | Find it |
| Martin Hammond | 2017 | Oxford World's Classics | prose, newer and highly praised for vividness, scholarly introduction by Martin Goodman | Find it |
| H. St. J. Thackeray, Ralph Marcus, Allen Wikgren, and Louis H. Feldman | 1926-1965 | Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press | facing Greek-English text, the scholarly gold standard for citation | Find it |
| William Whiston, updated by Paul L. Maier | 1999 | Kregel Publications | prose, modernized 18th-century Whiston text with Maier's commentary, popular one-volume complete edition | Find it |
| William Whiston | 1737 | various, including Hendrickson Publishers | prose, the classic public-domain translation, still widely sold in an inexpensive hardcover edition | Find it |
| Steve Mason (general editor, multi-translator project) | 2000-present | Brill | scholarly, the most detailed modern academic commentary edition, sold by volume | Find it |
| William Whiston, ed. Paul L. Maier | 1999 | Kregel | Whiston modernized with Maier's notes, photos, and Loeb cross-references | Find it |
| G.A. Williamson, rev. E. Mary Smallwood | 1959/1981 | Penguin Classics | the standard modern literary translation, widely read | Find it |
| H. St. J. Thackeray, Ralph Marcus, Louis H. Feldman | 1926-1965 | Loeb Classical Library | the scholarly facing-Greek standard | Find it |
| Paul L. Maier | 1988 | Kregel | accessible abridged one-volume introduction | Find it |
| Steve Mason (general editor) | 2000-present | Brill | the definitive modern scholarly translation and commentary | Find it |
Those are affiliate links. They cost you nothing extra and pay a small commission to the people who publish these editions, and to us.
The thing that most changes an audiobook of The Complete Works is which translation is being read — a scholarly text and a colloquial one are different listening experiences before the narrator says a word.
| Narrator | Translation read | Publisher | Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlton Griffin | William Whiston (public domain, lightly modernized) | Audio Connoisseur | 2012 | classic/best-known unabridged production, Audie-winning narrator | Listen |
| Allan Corduner | William Whiston | Ukemi Audiobooks (W. F. Howes Ltd), via Audible | 2021 | unabridged, professionally produced multi-volume Audible edition | Listen |
| Jonathan Booth | William Whiston | Ukemi Audiobooks (W. F. Howes Ltd), via Audible | 2023 | companion unabridged Audible edition to the Ukemi Antiquities | Listen |
| Alastair Cameron | William Whiston | A.R.N. Publications | 2018 | independent unabridged narration, Audible/Amazon | Listen |
| uncredited/varies by listing | William Whiston (abridged) | Audible Studios / public-domain aggregator | unspecified | abridged public-domain compilation, lower-profile listing | Listen |
Affiliate links, including the Audible ones. They cost you nothing extra. Our own audiobook of The Complete Works stays free either way.
The editions described as the most readable are G. A. Williamson (revised by E. Mary Smallwood) (1959), Paul L. Maier (1988). Their published descriptions emphasise pace and plain modern idiom rather than strict line-by-line fidelity, which is what makes them easier on a first pass.
The most frequently recommended are G. A. Williamson (revised by E. Mary Smallwood) (1959), Martin Hammond (2017), H. St. J. Thackeray, Ralph Marcus, Allen Wikgren, and Louis H. Feldman (1926-1965). "Most recommended" is not the same as "best for you": a scholarly standard and an easy first read are different books, and the table on this page shows which is which.
There are 5 commercial recordings. They differ mainly in which translation is being read and whether it is a single narrator or a full cast: Charlton Griffin reads William Whiston (public domain, lightly modernized); Allan Corduner reads William Whiston; Jonathan Booth reads William Whiston. A complete free audiobook of our own translation is also on this site.
Yes. Scriptorium Press publishes a complete new plain-English translation of The Complete Works free to read, with a complete free audiobook, no account and no paywall - 30 works in this volume.
Historical context, on our companion site: How do we know Jesus existed?