KING DAVID(ISBN=9780345435057)

David, King of the Jews, possessed every flaw and failing of which a mortal is capable, yet men and women adored him, and God showered him with many blessings. A charismatic leader, exalted as “a man after God’s own heart,” he was also capable of deep cunning and bloodthirsty violence. Weaving together biblical texts with centuries of interpretation and commentary, as well as the startling discoveries of modern biblical archaeology and scholarship, bestselling author Jonathan Kirsch brings King David to life with extraordinary freshness, intimacy, and vividness of detail, revealing him in all his glory and fallibility. At the center of this taut, dramatic narrative stands a hero of flesh and blood–a man as vibrant and compelling today as he has been for millennia.

Jonathan Kirsch, a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times and author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Moses: A Life and The Harlot by the Side of the Road, writes and lectures widely on biblical, literary, and legal topics. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, President of PEN Center USA West, and a former correspondent for Newsweek, he lives in Los Angeles.

Maps
Chapter One--Charisma
Chapter Two--The Wrong King
Chapter Three---"He Is the One"
Chapter Four--Innocent Blood
Chapter Five--Desperado
Chapter Six--Ghostwife
Chapter Seven--"Shall the Sword Devour Forever?"
Chapter Eight--City of David
Chapter Nine--At the Time When Kings Go Forth to Battle
Chapter Ten--The Daughter of the Seven Gods
Chapter Eleven--The Rape of Tamar
Chapter Twe[ve--"Bloodstained Fiend of Hell!"
Chapter Thirteen--"O Absalom, My Son, My Son!"
Chapter Fourteen--An Angel at the Threshing-Floor
Chapter Fifteen--Heat
Chapter Sixteen--The Qualit~ of Light at Tel Dan
Appendix--The Biblical Biographers of David
Chronology
Endnotes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
A Reader's Guide