MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - FREE/BARGAIN - Christian Interest

GtrsRGr8 · 12-22-2014, 12:39 AM

I'm giving a mini-review of this work, at the end.

HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History. By James B. Pritchard. Rated 5 stars, but from only 4 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $25.95; regular digital price $14.44; Kindle price now $3.99. 192 pages. HarperCollins Publishers, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/HarperCollins-...+Bible+History.

Book Description
From the earliest evidence of humankind in Palestine to the establishment of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, the ministry of Jesus, and the rise of the Christian Church, the richly illustrated HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History brings the Bible to life in all its geographical context.

Detailed biblical references, timelines, and suggestions for further reading accompany each period of biblical history, conveying a tangible sense of the land, events, and people portrayed in the world's most famous book. With more than 100 full-color maps, timelines, and expert explanations, this superlative reference work will enable readers to more fully appreciate and understand the Bible and its stories.

The HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History features:
- Over 100 full-color geographical and topographical maps
- The latest archaeological information, floor plans, city plans, illustrations, and artistic recreations of ancient life
- Charts, graphs, statistics, informative sidebars, and more
- Detailed biblical references
- Timelines that place each section of the Bible in its historical context
- Web site recommendations for further interactive study

Now, my mini-review.

I previewed this book, was very impressed with it, bought it for myself, and looked it over some more.

The book is only 192 pages long, but it is chock-full of maps (many detailed), charts, graphs, and such like--all, or most, in color. There is a relatively small amount of text, but the author uses a real "economy of words" to pack a lot of information into that text.

One thing that I've kept thinking over and over is how this atlas of biblical history contains so many pieces of information that, though very helpful, I have not seen in other such books. Granted, however, my knowledge of such works is not the greatest.

The author, James B. Pritchard, was an eminent archaeologist. His strength is said to be setting Biblical events within their larger historical and cultural context. That strength comes out in this book--he tells us what was going on in surrounding areas to those where events in the Bible occurred, at the time that those events occurred.

One thing that keeps me from being completely satisfied with this book is the fact that Pritchard died in 1997, but this book was published in 2010. Google Books (books.google.com/books) shows a 2008 edition to be the first edition. Why was their such a long length of time from the most recent time that Pritchard could have authored the book (1997) until the time that it was first printed (2008)? That's perplexing. More to the point, how up-to-date is the information in the book given those facts? The field of Biblical studies is not subject to as much updating, revision, etc. as fields in, say, the pure sciences, but information can and does become out-of-date. However, the scope of this book is rather elementary, it's a primer on the subject, really. The information in a book of that kind about the Bible generally is well-established and changes little. At most, I think that the only information that someone might miss out on would be some details that have come to light since the writing of the book.

If I was asked to rate the book, I would deduct 1/2 star based on what I said in the previous paragraph, making my rating 4 1/2 stars.

12-22-2014, 12:39 AM	#83
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	85% Off of an Excellent Atlas of Bible History. I'm giving a mini-review of this work, at the end. HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History. By James B. Pritchard. Rated 5 stars, but from only 4 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $25.95; regular digital price $14.44; Kindle price now $3.99. 192 pages. HarperCollins Publishers, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/HarperCollins-...+Bible+History. Book Description From the earliest evidence of humankind in Palestine to the establishment of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, the ministry of Jesus, and the rise of the Christian Church, the richly illustrated HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History brings the Bible to life in all its geographical context. Detailed biblical references, timelines, and suggestions for further reading accompany each period of biblical history, conveying a tangible sense of the land, events, and people portrayed in the world's most famous book. With more than 100 full-color maps, timelines, and expert explanations, this superlative reference work will enable readers to more fully appreciate and understand the Bible and its stories. The HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History features: - Over 100 full-color geographical and topographical maps - The latest archaeological information, floor plans, city plans, illustrations, and artistic recreations of ancient life - Charts, graphs, statistics, informative sidebars, and more - Detailed biblical references - Timelines that place each section of the Bible in its historical context - Web site recommendations for further interactive study Now, my mini-review. I previewed this book, was very impressed with it, bought it for myself, and looked it over some more. The book is only 192 pages long, but it is chock-full of maps (many detailed), charts, graphs, and such like--all, or most, in color. There is a relatively small amount of text, but the author uses a real "economy of words" to pack a lot of information into that text. One thing that I've kept thinking over and over is how this atlas of biblical history contains so many pieces of information that, though very helpful, I have not seen in other such books. Granted, however, my knowledge of such works is not the greatest. The author, James B. Pritchard, was an eminent archaeologist. His strength is said to be setting Biblical events within their larger historical and cultural context. That strength comes out in this book--he tells us what was going on in surrounding areas to those where events in the Bible occurred, at the time that those events occurred. One thing that keeps me from being completely satisfied with this book is the fact that Pritchard died in 1997, but this book was published in 2010. Google Books (books.google.com/books) shows a 2008 edition to be the first edition. Why was their such a long length of time from the most recent time that Pritchard could have authored the book (1997) until the time that it was first printed (2008)? That's perplexing. More to the point, how up-to-date is the information in the book given those facts? The field of Biblical studies is not subject to as much updating, revision, etc. as fields in, say, the pure sciences, but information can and does become out-of-date. However, the scope of this book is rather elementary, it's a primer on the subject, really. The information in a book of that kind about the Bible generally is well-established and changes little. At most, I think that the only information that someone might miss out on would be some details that have come to light since the writing of the book. If I was asked to rate the book, I would deduct 1/2 star based on what I said in the previous paragraph, making my rating 4 1/2 stars. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 12-22-2014 at 02:12 AM.