Book Review: Unveiling the Kings of Israel

This easy to read book covers the major stories of the Old Testament reporting on the narrative as it is told in the Bible.  Interspersed in each chapter are archeological finds of recent history and also conclusive evidence demonstrating that the facts of the Bible are true.  Some of the major events and people discussed are Abraham, Moses, the Exodus, King David, Israel and Judahs history with Assyria the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery. There are tables in the appendix's detailing the patriarchs, chronological table and a table of weights and measurements.

When I saw the word archeology associated with this book I expected a little more detailed work on the archeology of the biblical narratives.  At first I was very disappointed in the book because of several reasons.  For one, each chapter goes into great detail retelling the biblical stories, which I found very redundant.  They were almost word for word retelling's.  I immediately thought, "I know this story why I am reading it as if I were reading it directly out of the Bible?"  Then the archeological facts were not much to write home about.  The author, David Downs, relates how while he was researching the exodus he decided to get in his car and drive along the Red Sea to see where the crossing could have taken place.  I became worried and thought this is the extent of his archeological research?  As I read more Mr. Downs used primary texts and recorded data of other archeologists to come to his conclusions.  Needless to say, I felt like this book was a pre-teens Bible story book with some "some-what" interesting facts thrown in.

Then it hit me.  Maybe this book was written for the age category of eleven to eighteen.  If that was its intended market I can understand why it was written the way it was.  If this was a serious investigation of biblical facts then it fell woefully short.  This book was long on re-telling the Old Testament narrative, short of archeology and questionable on its findings.  Even the pictures, which this book is full of, are like looking at someone's summer trip to the Holy Land.  I just could not take this book seriously.

My conclusion has been that it will rest on my son's book shelf and be used as a reference book for them as they become teenagers.  Any adult wanting an easy to read book, with lots of pictures, and a modern telling of the biblical story for their teen this would be a good book.

I received this book free from New Leaf Publishers through the book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”