WHO'S WHO IN THE BIBLE(0-14-051212-8)

In tribute to the Bible's everlasting characters, author Peter Calvocoressi assembled a concise listing of biographies from both the Old and New Testament. Unlike an encyclopedia, a "Who's Who" is a select directory, "to which entry has to be gained by fame or favor," according to Calvocoressi. As a result, each character entry is linked to a pivotal story in the Bible. The 450 listings range from short paragraphs (such as Bartholomew's brief mention as one of the 12 Apostles) to two-page essays, such as the one devoted to Mark. Speaking of this "evangelist and saint," the author writes, "Mark alone records the presence at Jesus' arrest of a young man in a white cloth who followed Jesus when all others fled but was attacked and forced to flee naked." Was this Mark, Calvocoressi wonders? "If so, he has inserted himself modestly in his own work like the artists ... in Italian Renaissance pictures or Alfred Hitchcock who does likewise in his films." It is this kind of observation that makes Calvocoressi's directory so inviting and informative. --Gail Hudson