Short reconstruction of Christmas day and the immediate aftermath. Jim Bishop writes in journalistic style, and so the facts are dominant, and the human personalities less developed. Valuable for its depiction of Jewish custom and everyday life. Less so for the story-telling. He tends to tell about the story, instead of letting the characters tell the story. ( )

A good, short book narrating the story of Jesus' birth. It fills in many of the details from the author's personal research into typical Jewish customs or history, so some of it is speculative. However, the author doesn't go far afield, so even the speculative parts seem like they fit. ( )