“In an intelligent analysis of old and new connections between religion and violence, he dissects stories like those of Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Esau and Jacob, and of course, Abraham himself. He tackles this task with the tenderness of a believer and the rigour of a scholar, drawing both on a thorough knowledge of ancient texts and history and on modern insights like those of Sigmund Freud and a French literary critic and authority on sacred violence, René Girard. As Lord Sacks repeatedly shows, stories that superficially describe deadly sibling rivalry also contain counter-narratives which stress the deep, unbreakable bonds which common parenthood implies. Thus Ishmael and Isaac, the sons of Abraham, have sharply differing destinies but come together to bury their father. Elsewhere in the Book of Genesis, Joseph and his brothers deal ruthlessly with one another before the tearful reconciliation upon their father’s death.”