Mr Bartlett's volume, like the others in the series, contains the text in the New English Bible. After a general introduction to the book as a whole, the text is given in short passages, with a commentary directly following each. These Jewish historical works, the two books of the Maccabees, were written to describe the struggles of the Jews in the second century BC against encroachment of the Greek way of life and against the political domination of the Syrians. The particular purpose of this commentary is to bring out the political and religious motives of the various parties to the struggle.