How the book of Samuel offers a timeless meditation on the dilemmas of statecraftThe book of Samuel is universally acknowledged as one of the supreme achievements of biblical literature. Yet the book's anonymous author was more than an inspired storyteller. The author was also an uncannily astute observer of political life and the moral comprom
"By treating the author of Samuel as an ancient Machiavelli, Halbertal and Holmes enable readers to approach the biblical story in a new way while enhancing their understanding of the workings of political survival and the dynamics of power."--Steven Weitzman, author of Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom
"For Halbertal and Holmes, the author of Samuel is a writer of singular political insight, a brilliant student of politics, and indeed, a political theorist avant la lettre. This is a wonderful discovery. The Beginning of Politics is a work of deep and original scholarship."--Michael Walzer, author of In God's Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible
"World's 2017 Book of the Year in "History""
