WARS OF THE MACCABEES, THE
One of the best features of this book is that unlike many histories of events in the Holy Land the biblical and other Jewish sources (mainly Josephus) aren't take at face value. Instead the author has put a great deal of effort into comparing their version of events with those from a wide range of other sources, and many achievements claimed for the Maccabees don't survive that scrutiny - in particular cities that are meant to have been conquered remain in other hands and some reputations don't really survive the process... This is a good piece of work on an important topic. - History of War Website