King David: A Biography

McKenzie is little short of brilliant.
A provocative look at a complex biblical figure....McKenzie uses biblical texts and recent archaeological discoveries to paint a searing portrait of the 'real' King David.
[A] remarkable book....McKenzie brings to bear all the analytical tools of the modern historian....We see a darker and more realistic David and a more troubling biblical history..... McKenzie's portrait of David is both convincing and disturbing.
Mckenzie...uses historical analysis of the texts, augmented by archaeology and the immense body of scholarship about the ancient Middle East, to create a plausible real-life portrait of the figure who gets more space in the Bible than anybody, Moses and Jesus included....A spirited analysis.
The conventional, laudatory image of David as a simple shepherd boy who courageously slew Goliath and rose to become Israel's greatest king despite some human failings is disputed by McKenzie.

Steven L. McKenzie is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College. He is the author of many books on Bible Studies, including The Hebrew Bible Today and All God's Children: A Biblical Critique of Racism. He lives in Memphis.