Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

History, historiography, and the Bible. The death of biblical history? ; Knowing and believing : faith in the past ; Knowing about the history of Israel ; Narrative and history : stories about the past ; A biblical history of Israel -- A history of Israel from Abraham to the Persian period. Before the land ; The settlement in the land ; The early monarchy ; the later monarchy : Solomon ; The later monarchy : the divided kingdoms ; Exile and after ; Concluding reflections -- Appendix. In praise of critical thought : a response to our cities -- Index of biblical passages -- Index of scholars cited -- Index of selected topics.