I use the Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions in a course I teach on World Religions for my university -- it has a good breadth of coverage, good detail, wonderful photography, and a very nice colour layout that makes for easier reading. Editor John Bowker provides an introduction and conclusion as well as one of the topical sections.

In the introduction, Bowker writes, 'There is no known society in which religion has not played a part, and frequently a controlling and creative part. This seems to have been true of the earliest societies, but in their case the history of religions is not easy to write.' Bowker traces the reconstruction and speculation of prehistoric societies, with illustrations of cave paintings, totem poles, Mayan pyramid structures, Native American costumes, and maps of South America and Oceania to help illustrate the diversity of ways beyond the printed word that different peoples have kept alive the religious traditions handed down to them.

'The attempt to write history according to laws governing human behaviour had an immensely important influence during much of the twentieth century, because it created those disciplines which called themselves "the social science".' This is not, however, the only possible way to explore religion, and Bowker and his fellow authors do stretch their reporting and analysis beyond this framework. Some tap into the common core of ideas that seems to permeate the different religions, and some do anthropological studies that look for echoes of the present in the past.

This book is useful both as a reference and as a narrative history, designed for reading. The religions are described both in terms of beliefs and in terms of practices, with side-bar commentary that helps to elucidate key points throughout the text. There are also occasional essays, spread across one or two pages, that might highlight in more detail some of the scriptures, cultural issues, historical events, or other key pieces that lend understanding to the religion. For example, in the section on Buddhism, there are special essays on the Buddha's First Sermon, Women in Japanese Buddhism, and Chinese Suppression; in the section on Islam, there are special essays on The Quran, Islam in Pakistan, and Mosques.

The main sections and principle subsections are as follows:

Indian Religions and the Hindu Tradition

Jainism

Sikihism

Buddhism

Þ India and Southeast Asia

Þ Tibet

Þ China

Þ Japan

Þ Korea

Chinese Religion

Korean Religion

Japanese Religions

Judaism

Zarathustra and the Parsis

Mediterranean Religions

Þ Classical Greek and Roman Religion

Þ Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

Christianity

Þ Christianity

Þ Norse Religion

Islam

New Religions

The concluding section, on new religions, discusses various practices and communities that still hearken back to older traditions. Pagans, for example, tend to dismiss use of the term neo-Pagan, as they maintain that their religion taps into ancient ideas rather than exists as a new creation. Similarly, followers of Wicca see themselves as descendents of older European practices -- some followers of both see their origins in the Druid communities. In Japan, the shinko shukyo, or newer religions, exist in addition to several ancient traditions that continue to be practiced. Post-colonial Africa has seen a resurgence beginning in the recovery of non-Western religious practices alongside continuing growth in both Christian and Islamic communities. The Bahai faith is an example of a new religion growing out of Islamic (and thus the Judeo-Christian-Islamic) tradition; twentieth century groups such as Scientologists and the Unification Church continue to generate controversy, both in terms of belief and practice.

'With so many risks, why do new religions continue to flourish, especially among the young? Many answers have been offered, but fundamental to them all is the fact that the capacity for religious belief and behaviour is deeply embedded in the human brain and body. It is inevitable, therefore, that people will be religious in some sense. ... The human genius for religion leads to the constant development of new religions that seem to their adherents to meet their needs and fulfill their hopes. It leads also to a continuing history of existing religions for exactly the same reason.'

The book includes a chronology presented both in column text and in two-page graphic format as a timeline. There is also a great index, and a useful bibliography. The text is written assuming no particular background in religion, theology or history, but rather a basic beginning college reading level. Advanced students from secondary schools may also find this useful, and the illustrated format makes it an interesting book for almost any reader.

Recently I saw Jeremy Sisto in a film in the cinema, and as my movie-going friend and I were dissecting the film afterward, we both were impressed with Sisto's performance, and tried to recall what we'd seen him in before. I remembered this production of Julius Caesar, but only after a while - Sisto's role in the other film (a light drama with a comedic edge) is very different from the epic, super-serious Julius Caesar.

This production is a good one for a straight-to-television production. It is a four-hour miniseries (the television nomenclature equivalent for `epic'). It plays a bit loose with the historic progression, but keeps many of the broad strokes intact - Rome's trouble under Sulla, Caesar's early difficulties becoming established, his military alliance and familial partnership with Pompey, destined to falter; the conquest of Gaul and the march back to Rome, the fiery oratory of Cato, and the climactic death in the Senate.

Caesar is a complex character, one who defies encapsulation in so short a span as four hours. Given that Caesar was surrounded by many equally intriguing characters, it is little wonder that productions about Caesar often fall victim to a particular interpretation. Sisto's performance, and Edel's direction, makes Caesar in some ways a walking statue - and this is not a necessarily inappropriate style. Caesar was very conscious of appearances and public perceptions, and took great pains to always appear in a certain fashion that would enhance his power and reputation. Sisto's Caesar does show such some emotional range, but this is often mitigated by `events of state'.

Richard Harris, in one of his final performances as Sulla, puts in a much more dynamic performance, however brief; some may recall Harris as the wise emperor Marcus Aurelius in `Gladiator' a few years prior to this production, a very different role indeed from the ambitious, capricious and over-emotional Sulla. Christopher Walken as Cato also turns in an almost over-the-top performance (Cato and Cicero seem to be a combined character here, in some respects). Christopher Noth plays Pompey, but does so at extremes - he is either flat and ineffective, or overly emotional and ineffective. Noth has done good work elsewhere, but this is not one of his better pieces.

The female characters in this production are largely marginalized; even the famous Cleopatra/Caesar affair in minimized. While the role of Cleopatra is often overplayed in the Caesar story, it does have a decided role. Also, the role of Augustus is completely missing.

Filming was done in Malta and in Bulgaria, which brought in lots of locals into the production. A replica of the Roman Forum was constructed, which is an impressive piece of scenery. Also, the Gaul encampment, where Caesar overcomes Celtic warriors, is well constructed and visually powerful. German actor Heino Ferch plays the role of the Celtic leader with aplomb. In scenes where he appears, he steals the show so completely that no Caesar could resist.

It is interesting that the television series, `Rome', is currently enjoying a major success with essentially the same time period. This could have been a great epic / mini-series; instead, it is passing fair. Costumes are great, sets and location good. The story line is interesting, even if out of sync with actual history. The performances are spotty but occasionally effective. The writing takes the story along, but almost as if it were a rendering about Rome and Caesar than a piece for actors to perform in.

Those who like the `sword and sandals' kind of film will find this interesting. Others may find it tolerable. Those who are easily irritated at historical inaccuracies of detail may well find this film infuriating, as lots of bits are rearranged for dramatic effect. Even so, it is an epic that might be worth a rainy day or night's viewing.

There are no real DVD extras to speak of, at least not on the copy I have.

I am a fan of the VSI - Very Short Introduction - Series done by the Oxford University Press. On literally hundreds of subjects, they provide a survey with enough depth and detail to be worthwhile to the non-specialist, a wide enough range to useful for students looking for authoritative information, and good as a general outline of the fields or subjects as preparation for further study.

This particular volume on the Dead Sea Scrolls touches on one of my areas of interest that I have been following for over a quarter of a century (and it pains me to realise that I am indeed old enough to have areas of study that reach back that far). When I first encountered information about the scrolls, one controversy about them was over ownership rights and publication rights - there were conspiracy theories about why the scrolls were being withheld, and no such thing as a complete volume of the scrolls. These issues are included in Timothy Lim's text, as that story has become part of the history of the scrolls.

Lim also addresses the role of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a cultural icon: 'Many people have heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but few know what they are or the significance they have for our understanding of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism, and the origins of Christianity.' The scrolls have been a media sensation for what they are more so than for what they contain; the location where they were found (a mysterious place, the Dead Sea, the site of ancient battles and settlements, and a place that is still in turmoil today) also played a part of in the mystery of the scrolls, as did the Catholic-dominated scholarly team that worked on the translations and reconstruction for so long (conspiracy theories still resonate in works such as the Da Vinci Code). Lim also highlights the role of the Biblical Archaeology Society in 'freeing' the scrolls from the captivity of the scholarship team.

Lim discusses the history of the scrolls as an archaeological find, and puts forward several of the theories of their origins. The primary theory that Lim develops in good detail is the Qumran-Essene origin, which is the dominant theory among scroll scholars today. The archaeological sites are largely situated near the ancient settlement of Qumran, at the north end of the Dead Sea (an hour's drive from Jerusalem today, but a day's journey or more from Jerusalem in ancient Judea). Lim's discussion of de Vaux's archeological work on Qumran is one of the best brief overviews that I have read across several dozen books on the scrolls.

Lim discusses the scrolls themselves, discussing many of the difficulties of working with them. He mentions that there are 800 to 900 scrolls (and why we don't know for certain just how many of them there are in the collections), consisting of 25,000 fragments or more. Piecing them together is just one part of the problem; not having all the pieces complicates matters, and not having an accurate guide to follow in reconstruction is another. Biblical and ancient texts can be difficult enough to translate and reconstruct even when they are well known, so how does one account for differences in texts? Are they scribal errors (frequent in ancient manuscripts, given that they are hand written)? Are they reconstruction errors? Are they legitimate textual variants?

A large number of the scrolls are biblical texts - the Hebrew Bible has every book save Esther represented in the scrolls. This is important, as it backs up the antiquity of the writings we have by nearly a millennium - the oldest texts of the Hebrew Bible prior to the discovery of the scrolls were texts like the Leningrad Codex, which dates closer to 1000 c.e.; the scrolls date back in some instances as long as 250 years before the time of Herod, Hillel and Jesus. Lim highlights some of the intriguing finds, such as the discrepancy of Goliath's height, recorded in modern texts following the Masoretic text (that in the Leningrad Codex) as approximately 9 feet 9 inches, and the scrolls which record a more realistic 6 feet 9 inches - a giant in a world where 5 feet 4 inches would be closer to the norm, but hardly a super-human height.

This book is an excellent resource for study groups and individuals who want a quick introduction; in today's school environment, students are confronted with an increasing volume of information, but the means to organise and use that information hasn't increased at the same rate. The presentation of material in the typical VSI is good at addressing this need for organisation and utility, and Lim's text on the Dead Sea Scrolls is one of the best of this series that I have read thus far. In addition to the well-written text, it includes maps, graphics and pictures of the scrolls and associated places (the Shrine of the Book, Qumran, etc.), a good index, and a very good list of references keyed to each chapter.

This is very much a book that I wish I had written. I have been a fan of science fiction for as long as I can remember (I can't quite remember the original Star Trek in first run, but it was in recent re-run when I first acquired sentience and memory...).

One of the hallmarks of successful science fiction (as opposed to the significant volume of bad science fiction that comes out each year) is that it doesn't rely exclusively on futuristic ideas of where science and technology will go, but rather delves deeply into the meaning of life and other significant issues of existence, relationship and cosmological understanding that people find important regardless of the time and technological period in which they live. A case in point is Star Trek - issues arise in most episodes of most of the series that deal not just with life and death, but what is important in life? By playing off against in-human or un-human characters like the Vulcans or the Klingons (or even more exotic, albeit often poorly constructed, creatures), the important aspects of human nature can be brought forward in ingenious ways.

Authors Thomas Bertonneau and Kim Paffenroth begin the text by discussing the relationships of science, religion and storytelling. There is a long history of this triad, which have rarely all been pulling together in the same direction, but not always opposed to each other, either. Bertonneau and Paffenroth trace the origins of science fiction back to ancient Greece, whose writings at the time combined elements of philosophy, religion and science in ways that often did not recognise a distinction between the fields the way modern academia and popular imagination does. Of course, these all contain ideas that lead into each other and the human condition. 'In giving us a cosmic perspective on ourselves, science and science fiction restore us to a proper humility - a meekness before the awe of creation appropriate to our station.'

One might wonder at the absence of films here - after all, the Joseph Campbell/Star Wars mythology would seem a natural tie-in for the subject. However, the authors liken the television shows to epic poetry - the serial aspect shows (generally speaking) the same sets of characters in recurring dilemmas, much the way epic poetry did. Most films do not have that aspect (although the Star Wars series approaches epic proportions). Also, television gives a kind of accessibility that films (until recently) did not have - an 'in-home' quality that is analogous in ways to Jesus' parables, which are much more home-spun in nature when compared to philosophical treatises of Greek and Roman writers of his same time.

Bertonneau and Paffenroth highlight six particular series: Dr. Who (the original British version), Star Trek (the original generation), The Prisoner, The Twilight Zone (Rod Serling's time), The X Files, and Babylon 5. The authors do not expect readers to be familiar with each of the shows (although the more obsessive science fiction fans - short for fanatic, of which I am one - will likely know them all), but expect because of the pervasive influence these shows have had on popular culture that every reader will be familiar with some aspects of some of the shows. However, these shows are in many ways counter-cultural, which the basic Christian message also tended and tends to be. 'Science fiction's determination to take a lofty view distinguishes it from other popular genres, which tend to be preoccupied with various forms of adolescent resentment.' Even so-called adult dramas tend to be replays of basic relationship patterns established early - the kind of discussion of the nature of good and evil or the nature of truth rarely comes up in these shows as it might in science fiction.

These are far from perfect shows, to be sure, and are not a replacement for the gospel. Ever mindful of the biblical injunctions against idolatry, authors Bertonneau and Paffenroth show how these science fiction shows take that issue as an important one - meanwhile, other shows are becoming idols (indeed, there is even a popular show right now with the very word in its title, but like idols of the ancient world, very little in terms of ultimate truth comes forward from them). Again Star Trek can be held up as an example here: 'it repeatedly examines the nature of good and evil, human nature, progress, reason and emotion, and most of all, virtue. Star Trek became and remains so popular because it does not just entertain but inquires into questions of ultimate meaning and purpose with thoughtfulness, ambiguity, and insight.' These shows tell stories that have a moral - and as often as not, these morals correspond to values the gospel message also tries to impart.

There are books out there bearing the title 'The Gospel according to the Simpsons,' 'The Gospel according to Disney,' and even 'The Gospel according to Sherlock Holmes,' but this book, 'The Truth is Out There,' doesn't have to put up as much struggle with its base subject to fit the underlying substance of theology and philosophy as the previous texts. The truth is out there, and in here, and can be found.

Pilate's question - what is truth? - is a question worth asking. Science fiction is one of the few popular forums in which this discussion continues.

As Borradori states in his introduction, 'Both [Habermas and Derrida] hold that terrorism is an elusive concept that exposes the global political arena to imminent dangers as well as future challenges.' I think that this sums up what many people feel about the war on terrorism - unlike conflicts such as World War I and World War II, or even the more vaguely defined Cold War or Vietnam war, this is a war where there the front-line can be anywhere and nowhere, where the enemies can be anyone and no one, and where the tactics, strategies, motives and hoped-for achievables are so far removed from what traditional political and military methodology deals with that it requires a paradigm shift in our thinking. 'While the Cold War was characterized by the possibility of balance between two superpowers, it is impossible to build a balance with terrorism because the threat does not come from a state but from incalculable forces and incalculable responsibilities.'

As is typical of Derrida, he sees the relationship between terrorism and communication to be paramount. (I was first exposed to Derrida in theology classes, dealing with the postmodern predicament of looking for meaning in language and behind language in ways that make sense). It is perhaps ironic that the term that springs to mind most when contemplating Derrida is 'deconstruction', which is, in often a dramatically literal sense, what terrorism also hopes to achieve. 'The intellectual grounding of Derrida's deconstruction owes much to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century lineage constituted by Nietzsche, Heidegger and Freud. For Derrida, many of the principles to which the Western tradition has attributed universal validity do not capture what we all share or even hope for.' This becomes all the more problematic when dealing with those outside the Western tradition, such as occurred in Vietnam, Korea, and now in the war on terror.

For Derrida, communication is not simply political. 'Derrida engaged the themes of terror as a psychological and metaphysical state as well as terrorism as a political category.' This draws upon philosophical ideas that can reinterpret the events in various ways, as plays out in various media outlets even to this day. But the events of 9/11 for Derrida are not surprising. 'Was 9/11 truly unpredictable? Not for Derrida. ... The kind of attack that the terrorists launched in 2001 had already been prefigured in detail by the technocinematic culture of our days.'

Habermas also sees communication as a critical element. One issue for Habermas is the speed of modern mass communication - it 'works in the interest of those who select and distribute the information rather than those who receive it. Habermas suggests that the pressure of thinking and evaluating data quickly has a political import, because it facilitates an experience of politics based on the persona of the actors rather than the ideas that each of them defends.' Habermas' theory of communicative action, including its idea of violence as distorted communication, shows the importance of perception, understanding, critical analysis and response.

'Habermas understands modernity to be a change in belief attitude rather than a coherent body of beliefs. A belief attitude indicates the way in which we believe rather than what we believe in. Thus, fundamentalism has less to do with any specific text or religious dogma and more to do with the modality of belief.' This fits in many ways when one commentator I read recently who discussed the overall state of Muslim theology, expressing the understanding that the Muslims have never gone through a period of Reformation as Christendom did, nor have Muslims come to embrace the idea of a society and nation-state separate from religious. Indeed, we can hear echoes of this latter idea in political speech in America, often from groups that can be described as (and often embrace the term) fundamentalist. This will continue to be an issue in the war on terror.

Another issue for Habermas will be the issue of nation-state vs. international organisation power. 'Habermas is convinced that what separates the present moment from a full transition to cosmopolitanism is not only a theoretical matter but a practical one, too, for the decisions of the international community need to be respected. ... Unfortunately, the power differential between national and international authorities threatens to weaken the legitimacy of any military intervention and to retool police action as war.' This has been true not just in the twentieth century, but previously as well. The Congress of Vienna, the League of Nations, and the United Nations have all failed to have power to counter the superpowers of their times; alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact relied heavily on one particular partner.

For both Derrida and Habermas, the war on terror is not as simple as Arab vs. West, Muslim against Christian/post-Christian society, or particular nations against one another. Perhaps had this been written after the recent situation with the Dubai acquisition of American ports being stopped, they would have pointed out that once again, our definitions and communicative premises fail - how does one balance the idea that foreign ownership of ports is unwise with the fact that few are concerned when British, Canadian, Australian or Norwegian firms do the same? There is a lack of definition about it all, even when all the words we use, to bring about clarity. The war on terror might be the quintessential post-modern situation.

Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' is enjoying a resurgence of popularity thanks to the Oscar-winning film depicting the author's life and work during the writing of this phenomenal piece. At one point in the film, the character Capote makes the statement that when he thinks about how good this book will be, he can hardly breathe. Perhaps it is because it is part of our history now, I don't consider the book to be that good, but it was a work fairly close to groundbreaking in its impact - it was a new genre, the narrative telling of a non-fiction event as if it were a fictional novel.

The narrative centres upon the murder of a Kansas family by two men, Perry Smith and Dick Hicock, who are in many ways far from typical killers, much less cold blooded killers. The family, the Clutters of Holcombe, Kansas, are far from typical victims, nor is this the kind of place such a murder would be expected. Capote does a remarkable job at an even-handed analysis and narrative treatment of all the characters, from the family itself to the townspeople and investigators, as well as the murderers themselves. Perhaps it is because he found an area of identification?

This is a psychological thriller of a sort - at least it would be, were it not a true life tale. Getting into the minds of the criminals and the investigators was no easy task for Capote, but what comes forth on the page is very crisp and insightful reporting, without the kinds of embellishments one might expect from a figure such as Capote when dealing with middle-America folk.

The question of why for the killing is still never fully resolved, despite Capote's attempt to set out all the story and psychological detail. Perhaps this is as strange as the interest Capote took in the subject in the first place, as well as the effect it had on him, and those around him, ultimately - while Capote himself never again finished a major project after this, that is also true of his assistant, Nell Harper Lee, whose book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (done about the same time as 'In Cold Blood') was also her last major writing.

A worthwhile book in many ways.

As an extended riff on James Frey's book, 'A Million Little Pieces', this is actually not poorly done. At lots of little turns in the plot, there are direct parallels to the hero of Frey's book.

First, some background, for those not in the know. James Frey wrote a book, 'A Million Little Pieces', that was presented as a tough-to-read memoir of his own experiences. It was an Oprah selection. It had wide acclaim. Unfortunately, the longer the book was in the spotlight, the more its credibility was called into question, until Frey finally admitted it was not the all-the-truth-all-the-time narrative he'd originally presented it as being.

It has since become the object of jokes and derision. This book by Pinocchio (a pen name for Pablo Fenjves) is one of these efforts. Pinocchio wakes in pain not remembering how he got where he was, and goes through mock-parallels of the harrowing events Frey describes (drug addiction is subtituted by addiction to a more frivolous living, etc.).

In the end, it is really a bit too much. While Frey's book had at least the virtue of trying to deal with difficult subjects in a serious way (albeit with an ultimately fatal flaw in the execution), I am lost of the point on Pinocchio's book. Like the children's story of Pinocchio, which could be told in a much shorter page length, a parody of Frey's book could also be more effective as a cautionary tale if presented in a different way.

As author Clayton Jefford states in the first chapter, the body of literature collectively known as the Apostolic Fathers was, like the New Testament, not recognised as such during the time of composition, but rather is a categorisation that has been made much later, with the benefit of hindsight. 'In large part our Apostolic Fathers represent the remnants of early Christian writings that ultimately did not make it into the New Testament canon.' These are writings that were seen as having merit for the early Christian community, and continued to hold authority of some sort in most subsequent Christian times and institutions, but has never had an official church sanction in the way that the canonical Bible has had.

However, understanding the formation of the canon is important in understanding the Apostolic Fathers as a collection, and Jefford introduces this complex subject with clarity. The closeness of these works to the canonical scriptures can be seen in the fact that, on various ancient lists, some of the works appear with the current canonical books, while some canonical texts are missing. Jefford gives a brief introduction to each work of the Apostolic Fathers (Epistle to Diognetus, First Clement, Second Clement, the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the seven Epistles of Ignatius, the Epistle of Polycarp, the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the Shepherd of Hermas, and fragments of Papias) - whereas each of the works dates back to the first or second century, the phrase and understanding of the collection is at least a medieval one, and Jefford states that the modern use of the term 'Apostolic Fathers' dates from Jean Cotelier in 1672.

Jefford has chapters devoted to historical context (people and places), scriptural connections, and theological ideas, as well as chapters that deal more generally with the ancient church in institutional terms and the influence and legacy that this early church, with possession of the body of literature from the Apostolic Fathers, had on later developments in Christianity. Jefford's historical survey organises things geographically, while Jefford's theological survey follows primary topics still strong in systematic theological circles (God, ecclesiology, eschatology, soteriology, and orthodoxy).

Despite their influence, which has resurfaced a number of times in the nearly two millennia since their composition, 'the collected writings of the early church that are now classified as the Apostolic Fathers unfortunately remain a complete mystery to most Christians.' Jefford makes apt contrast of these texts with other works such as the Gospel of Thomas and other 'lost' writings - the fact that these were preserved (even though not considered scriptural) shows that the church over time considered them important and worthwhile in ways that competing writings were not. Jefford also highlights the regional diversity and ethnic and ethical diversity of the authors of the Apostolic Fathers. 'They were not canonised, but neither were they rejected. In this way we might argue with some justification that, despite the fact that these writings derive from a variety of different authors and geographical settings, they do indeed stand as a unified corpus of writings that depict a genuine faith among early Christians.'

This is a book that will provide for the student, seminarian, minister, historian or other interested reader a good introductory snapshot of the Apostolic Fathers in terms of context, content, influence and importance.

There is no index in the book, which is a drawback for those who might want to use this book as a reference tool. However, the book is well written and concise, so making notes for one's own use in the back pages would not be a bad idea.

This is a book designed largely for the busy person in mind -- the reading is simple without being simplistic; there are not too many names and terms to wade through, and the whole of the book could be read in but a few hours, making this piece of church history readily accessible to even the busiest of lay persons, and a refresher handily available for the busiest of clergy.

Authors Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman first caught my attention with their book 'The Bible Unearthed'. That book presented new discoveries and ways of looking at previous discoveries in the area of archaeological research and the origins of the Bible. This is one of the latest contributions of major scholars to the continuing quest for clarity and understanding of the development and meaning of the biblical texts. 'We believe that a reassessment of finds from earlier excavations and the continuing discoveries by new digs have made it clear that scholars must now approach the problems of biblical origins and ancient Israelite society from a completely new perspective.

This book follows some of their speculations and continues their methods of treading between the more fundamentalist 'the Bible is history and the only history' camp and the minimalist 'the Bible has nothing to do with history' camp. There is historical content and influence on the text of the Bible, according to Finkelstein and Silberman, but the Bible is not nor was ever intended to be a historical textbook of the sort we have today. This is particularly important when dealing with the greatest of Biblical kings, David and Solomon.

'Our challenge will be to provide a new perspective on the David and Solomon story by presenting the flood of new archaeological information about the rise and development of the ancient society in which the biblical tale was formed. We will attempt to separate history from myth; old memories from later elaboration; facts from royal propaganda to trace the evolution of the David and Solomon narrative from its ancient origins to the final compilation of the biblical accounts.'

In this vein, the authors trace the biblical narrative of David and Solomon, and then combine it with what is known from archaeological and extra-biblical textual evidence. They look at issues of psychology and politics, institutional and cultural development, and later influences and growths from the earlier narrative strands.

I found the appendices to be particularly valuable in this volume. Finkelstein and Silberman discuss the recent Tel Dan discovery, a controversial rendering of an inscription that is the earliest mention of David outside of the Bible (the inscription refers to a king of the House of David who dies with the king of Israel, most likely the kings Jeroram and Ahaziah) - the authors state that this discovery deals a serious blow to the minimalist idea. Other appendices look at Jerusalem more specifically, other cities that would have been part of Solomon's kingdom, and more.

This is a text written in a popular, accessible style - thus, footnotes/endnotes are scarce. However, there is a good index, and an excellent bibliography/selected readings section that is categorised by chapter and topic.

Finkelstein has a position at Tel Aviv University, as director of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Archaeological Institute, and is currently working on excavations at Tel Meggido (better known to modern readers as Armageddon). Silberman is director of historical interpretation for the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation in Belgium. Both are frequent contributors to major scholarly and popular archaeology magazines and journals, and each has published a number of noted books in the field of Syro-Palestinian archaeology.

'The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy', edited by John Heilbron, is a wonderful reference resource, but also an interesting book to read. It is organised as an encyclopedic dictionary, with over 200 entries that range in size from half a page to several pages in length. This covers history from the a little past the Renaissance to the present (with occasional references to earlier discoveries and events), including entries in other sciences such as geography and oceanography and how they relate to the issues in physics and astronomy.

Entries include topics, biographies, short essays, inventions and concepts. The biographical entries are generally paired - figures such as Einstein and Newton warrant their own entries (as does Benjamin Franklin for some inexplicable reason), but sometimes the pairings don't quite seem to fit (Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, for example, are both popularisers of physics and astronomy, but perhaps deserve somewhat better pairings). For the concept of the pairings, inspiration seems drawn from Plutarch, whose magnum opus 'Lives' paired biographies of notable figures.

The overall organisation is alphabetical, but there is also a complex hierarchy of entries as well that includes primary articles for comprehensive disciplines, principle subdivisions within the disciplines, and third level entries on specific items within the subdivisions (including biographies). There are extensive cross-references as well, in addition to supplemental reading lists.

In some ways, this book is a subset of the greater work, 'The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science' - there is a complete listing of entries for that work included in this text, to show how this area of science fits within the greater whole (for one thing).

One thing I found about this book, however, is that it is a compelling read. When I first received the book, I stopped to look up a few items, and found myself still reading through articles and following the cross-references more than an hour later. Despite being a reference book, it is an accessible and inviting text to for the reader, which is the mark of a good history text. For anyone interested in physics, astronomy, or the history of science, this is a text to be prized.