A sober, well-disciplined, well-reasoned response to the so-called minimalists who have dominated recent discussion of the history of ancient Israel. 'A Biblical History' correctly insists that the historical reliability of ancient texts largely depends on which testimonies to trust. The consequence is that the skepticism that has long dominated Old Testament discussion can no longer claim a privileged position – either epistemologically or morally – but in fact is an ideological advocacy. This book will need to be taken seriously and will be welcomed by all those who engage such issues of the historicity of the biblical text"– Walter Brueghemann, Columbia Theological Seminary