Includes bibliographical references.

Summary for English title: "From the tumbling walls of Jericho to a Jewish girl who became the queen of Persia, the historical books of the Bible are intriguing and unquestionably fascinating. In this companion volume to his widely used Handbook on the Pentateuch, veteran Old Testament professor Victor Hamilton demonstrates the significance of these biblical books." "To do so, Hamilton carefully examines content, structure, and theology using rhetorical criticism, inductive Bible study, published scholarship, archaeological data, word studies, and text-critical evidence. Hamilton details the events and theological implications of each book, chapter by chapter, providing useful commentary on overarching themes and the connections between Old Testament texts. For those who wish to do additional research, each chapter concludes with a bibliography of recent, relevant scholarship. Book jacket."