The Old Testament tells the story of a particular nation, ancient Israel, from its origins to its collapse in the face of foreign invaders. But what sort of story is this? How does it fit in with the findings of archaeological explorations of ancient Syro-Palestine?

Joshua to Kings picks up the two aspects of the story told in the books from Joshua to 2 Kings, that of an actual historical society and that of a literary presentation of a nation, told from a religious perspective. By exploring the contents of these books the student is led into the use of basic tools for biblical study, such as historical criticism, narrative criticism and ideological criticism, in order to engage in a structured manner with the task of reading and interpreting biblical texts in the modern world. For this third edition the text has been revised and updated to take into account the changes and shifts in scholarship. Reading lists and bibliographies have been comprehensively revised.

Mary E. Mills is Professor of Biblical Studies at Liverpool Hope University, UK.