David King of Israel and Caleb in Biblical Memory

Of all the Bible''s personalities David is the most profoundly human. Courageous cunning and complex he lives life to the hilt. Whatever he does he does with all his might exuding both vitality and vulnerability. No wonder it has been said that Israel revered Moses yet loved David. But what do we now know about the historical David? Why does his story stand at the center of the Bible? Why didn''t the biblical authors present him in a more favorable light? And what is the special connection between him and Caleb the Judahite hero remembered for his valor during the wars of conquest? In this groundbreaking study Jacob L. Wright addresses all these questions and presents a new way of reading the biblical accounts. His work compares the function of these accounts to the role war memorials play over time. The result is a rich study that treats themes of national identity statehood the exercise of power and the human condition.