An ordained minister serving as pastor at Wattle Grove Baptist Church in Western Australia, Sparks presents a study that seems to have been his Ph.D. dissertation in theology at a date and institution that he does not name. Scholars have long agreed that the genealogies contain no credible historical information, so he explores the literary and political purposes they might have intended to serve when they were constructed and incorporated into the Old Testament. The Society of Biblical Literature publishes the book and distributes the paperbound edition; Brill distributes the clothbound edition. Annotation 2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
