It is often forgotten that the Old Testament is the product of a long series of partisan collections and revisions of material, which is only part of a much wider tradition. And behind this tradition stand particular groups and parties. The aim of Professor Smith's book, first published in 1971 and never really available outside the United States, is to distinguish and describe these groups and parties, to trace their developments, conflicts and alliances, and to follow as far as possible the the convolutions of each party line, convolutions which explain the traditions that the party preserved and invented, and indicate those which it suppressed and denied.