Description

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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.

About the Author

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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.

Praise For…

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“[A] SPLENDID BIOGRAPHY . . . An eminently readable account of perhaps the best-known and most popular of all biblical heroes.”
–Los Angeles Times

“A COMPLETE PORTRAIT . . . One of the more comprehensive attempts to place this staggering figure in history, in literature, in psychology, and in the evolution of Judaism and Christianity.”
–The Seattle Times


“A STUNNING SYNTHESIS . . . Kirsch has taken the best of both worlds to fashion a story that is the first of its kind: a biography of biblical proportions, anchored in the imaginative sweep of fiction and the tactile surprise of fact.”
–DAVID ROSENBERG
Author of The Book of David
and co-author of The Book of J

“Anyone who reads [this] entertaining and often enlightening account will come away with a solid understanding of David’s life and legacy.”
–San Francisco Chronicle