Thanks for your comments, Graham, but Dr McGrane does not claim any ultimate truth in the two books of his I've read recently. I'm sorry if I gave that impression in my latest review. Of course, one's world-view and temperament doubtless influences one's writings, whatever the field, and while McGrane admits to being an atheist, he respects biblical scholarship made hitherto, and is careful to weigh the 'balance of probabilities' in his analysis of source texts - in-depth studies which he carried out over two decades. I am not an atheist, being a believer in a 'higher power' in the universe, but I find McGrane's work to be of great interest and convincing in many aspects. Best wishes, Geoff