The book offers a wealth of illustrations, many of them inscriptions drawn by the author himself, as well as several useful indexes. It looks small but actually contains much well-structured information and is an excellent introduction to the topic.

Though this book can only be used in combination with older handbooks to introduce students to Northwest Semitic epigraphy, it is an excellent companion for such works, updating them in important respects and giving students (and fellow scholars) a taste of the sorts of considerations that lead Rollston and others to identify and date their scripts in particular ways. Moreover, it serves the important purpose of giving expanded consideration of the historical, generic and social contexts of such inscriptions. Together with its rich trove of photographs and drawings of inscriptions (many of them done by Rollston himself), this volume is an indispensable resource for any student or scholar interested in the current state of Iron Age Northwest Semitic epigraphy.

In spite of the presence of technical pages on Paleo-Hebrew paleography (pp. 97- 107), this work is well written and quite clear, perfectly suited for non-specialists provided they have a rudimentary idea of the Hebrew alphabet. For somebody already interested in the topic, it is delightful reading. Not only is it the book I would recommend as an introduction to West Semitic epigraphy, but it would certainly be useful for many biblicists to read it, in a context where many of them draw hasty conclusions about the composition of the biblical texts without having a sound idea of the concrete work of ancient scribes.