"Holdsworth has produced a clearly presented, useful, up-to-date introduction for someone who is just about to start academic study of the Old Testament in higher education."-- P.J Harland, Epworth Reviews, January 2006.

"John Holdsworht's study guide to the Old Testament admirably fulfits its role. He writes in a deliberately informal style (...) so that his chat through the complex scholarly debates is not only accessible but positively intriguing. (...) The first half of the book gives an excellent survey of the literature associated with the JEDP traditions. I especially enjoyed the discussion comparing and contrasting D's and P's theological Responses to the exile. This was then developed in the second half of the book surveying prophecy and prophets and the alternative wisdom tradition. Every chapter clearly sets out what its aims are, what should have been learnt by the end of the chapter, and the most up to date and accessible reading appropriate for the topics covered. I shall definitely be recommending it to Readers in training in my diocese but it is a book I shall want to refer to frequently when I need a reliable guide to distinguish the trees from the forest of Old Testament scholarship."-- Michael Wilcockson, The Reader, Spring 2006, Vol.103.N°1