In The Historical Books, Richard D. Nelson introduces neophyte readers to the basic concepts of history and historical writing and provides a simple framework of events and periods that can be used to situate historical data reported in texts or presupposed by them. Standard interpretive methods are accessibly explained and illustrated by consistent reference to 2 Samuel 24. The focus of discussion moves from the narrow level of individual pericope to larger units of meaning. Because the ultimate goal is to expose the claims made on the reader by these biblical texts and to help the reader make sense of these claims, the interpretive spotlight rests on the present interaction of text and reader rather than on the past.