PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE

Not a gallery of individuals but a panorama of group portraits (People of the Great Journey, People at Pentecost, etc.) which adds up to another retelling of the Old and New Testaments, and one in which the focus on successive groups sometimes confuses the time sequence. The style is simpler than the vocabulary and frequently stilted; the illustrations (in color and black-and-white) are more arty than artistic. Some drama, little grace--more merit elsewhere.