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Rating: 
Summary: Too secular!
Review: I certainly enjoyed Chronicles of the Pharaohs and Chronicles of the Caesars. Unfortunately, this one was a let-down. Although it covers all the kings of Israel and Judah (along with the patriarchs and Moses) this book has a very secular humanist slant.The book basically denies the possiblity for divine intervention and revelation. It does not take the miracles of the Old Testament seriously. Besides this, whenever the author perceieves that there is a discrepency between the Old Testament and extra-Biblical pagan texts, he always sides with the extra-Biblical pagan texts. Obviously, there are no contemporary pictures or statues of the Old Testament kings.... The author therefore makes use of Roman Catholic art from the Middle Ages to fill in the gaps. As such, many of the pictures are unrealistic and silly. One would think that the kings of Israel were actually in medieval Britain or France.... It was good as a reference to determine which kings lived when, but not much else. The only people who would enjoy this book are college students at secular universities who want to study the Bible and at the same time justify their lack of faith. This is definitely not something I would use at church or Sunday School. This is not even a book I would use for Christian edification. It is simply a chronology of Biblical history taken from a secular humanist or naturalistic point of view.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful only for basic reference
Review: This book is simplistic in the extreme. The overviews are cursory and often details given conflict with other scholarship. I give it three stars for one reason -- it is a useful basic reference. In my research I use it to give me a chronology of the kings and for the maps. Other than that, it is not very worthwhile.
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