About the time I was to begin teaching my lesson series on Elijah and Elisha to our adult Sunday School class, I came across, in our boxed away books, Elijah by William H. Stephens, (1976, Living Books, an imprint of Tyndale House, paperback ISBN 0-8423-4023-8). I began reading it in March, and finished in late May.

Stephen’s purpose, as stated in the Preface, was “Elijah’s story needs to be told today. The parallels between ninth-century B.C. Israel and twentieth-century A.D. America are striking. The current emphasis on economic power by large corporations and wealthy men, along with the sex orietation that runs throughout our society from advertising to side street pornography, together call for Elijah’s story to be told. Perhaps we can learn from his, and from Israel’s, experience.”

Stephens says he has been true to the biblical record. I find that to be so, with one exception. He fleshes out the biblical narrative found in 1st Kings and 2nd Kings with cultural items, between scene details, travelogue type narrative, and dialogue. Where the writer of Kings gave us the much abridged version due to the expense of paper, ink, copying, and distribution, Stephens tries to give us what might have been written had publishing been as inexpensive then as it is today. How exactly was Elijah fed by ravens? What exactly did he experience on Mount Horeb? How did the mantle ceremony with Elisha progress? What was it like in the midst of the whirlwind near the chariot of fire?

Stephens adds a few supporting characters, of course: a corrupt priest of Yahweh who becomes involved in Baal prostitutes; a greedy business man/farmer; people who sell themselves into slavery; other friends of Elijah. Journeys are described in considerable detail: what route did people take? What was the terrain like? How long did it take them? How did they find provisions and lodging along the way. These are the sorts of things an author might include today, but were left out in the Bible.

The one place where Stephens seems to stray from the biblical record is in the area of Elijah’s first recorded servant. On Mount Carmel, after the fire from heaven scene, Elijah had a servant that the Bible does not name. Elijah left this servant at Beersheba when he went to Mount Horeb over forty days. Stephens names this servant: Elisha. Yes, he makes the assumption that Elisha was a servant of Elijah before the mantle ceremony, but went back to farming when Elijah disappeared into the desert until Elijah designated him his successor. I find this improbable, for I would think the Bible would indicate if Elisha was the first servant, since he later becomes the prophet-designate. I could be wrong, but then again Stephens could be wrong.

This is not a page turner, but the writing is good, the characters and dialogue believable, and the read enjoyable. If anyone can find this older book, it is worth the read.

With Christmas money I purchased Nelson’s Trafalgar by Roy Adkins, First American Edition, Viking. I began reading it a little over week ago, and finished it Saturday night–all except for the credits and bibliography; those came last night.

This is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in naval issues (especially war), the British/French war brought about by Napolean, sailing ships, or history in general. Before reading this book, I really knew little about the Battle of Trafalgar. Oh, I knew it was an important sea battle won by the British in the early 1800s, but I didn’t really know where it was fought or who they beat. I knew Admiral Horatio Nelson was the British victor and hero, but I knew little about his career, nor that he died during the battle. So for sheer transfer of facts and increase in my knowledge base, this was a great read.

Adkins used a good mixture of his own narrative and contemporary reports about the battle. He did not focus only on the victors, but talked considerably about the combined French-Spanish fleet. He talked about the life of the sailors in the navy, and about the officers. He took several occasions to explain subjects about life at sea and how the battle was waged. Consider this segment about on-board surgeons.

It was during battle that surgeons were most effective, even though they were working in appalling conditions. For much of their time on board ship, they were involved not with battle injuries, but with the daily hazards of disease and accidental injury….As soon as a ship was under fire, a steady stream of casualties arrived on the orlop deck. In most ships the crew were taught the use of tourniquets, to reduce blood loss, and also elementary bandaging, but in the heat of battle such first aid was usually inadequate…While waiting their turn to see the surgeon, some men bled to death whose wounds were otherwise not serious or complicated…putting [surgeons] under pressure to work as fast as possible….In a matter of seconds, he had to decide whether the injuries were fatal, could be dealt with by stiching and dressing, whether amputation was necessary….Usually this was all decided in one hurried glance, in poor lighting, as the surgeon tried to stand steady on a deck juddering from the countershocks of outgoing and incoming broadsides, as well as the normal roll and pitch of the ship.

This type of information is reapeated over and over in the book, for different jobs, such as the powder monkeys or the gun crews. Even with the large amount of information given, the book is an easy read, striking a good balance of popular readability and academic information. Anyone at all interested in these subjects should read this book.