This work reminds us that three great religions share a heritage from one of the world's most troubled regions--the Middle East. From the sixth century B.C., when the Jews returned to Palestine from exile in Babylonia, to that time in the Middle Ages when the three religions approached their present form, R.E. Peters traces important parallels and equally important differences among three relatives whom the Muslims themselves group together as 'Peoples of the Book' and who all believe in a God who intervenes in history on behalf of His people.