Joshua to Kings

That this volume has now reached its third edition demonstrates the continuing demand for a biblical commentary that is easily accessible to the general reader, while, at the same time, presenting new insights into biblical narrative from recent and authoritative scholarship. By focussing on three important approaches - historial, literary and theological - Mills ensures that the multi-dimensional aspects of this rich and challenging corpus are structured and articulated in a clear and comprehensible way, and that individual stories are explained and contextualised within the larger narrative framework. Mill's impressive scholarship and powers of communication are in evidene throughout the volume. Students, teachers and the general reader can be assured that this commentary is the most up to date and comprehensive of its kind in existance today. Martin O'Kane, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK Mary Mills offers an insightful set of ways of reading the so-called Deuteronomistic History. She challenges naive historical readings, yet discloses that Joshua- Kings reflect various historical realities. She stresses the importance of literary insights, yet insists that stories mirror actual political circumstances. She describes how the texts reveal the anxieties of a relatively small emergent people, yet she makes room for some profound theology. This is a very accessible way in to a complex collection of texts that remain at the centre of scholarly debate. George J. Brooke, University of Manchester, UK