# Good book on KJV creation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242 "2010-01-09T03:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/1 "2010-01-09T03:17:45Z")
I want to read a good book on what went on during the creation of the King James Version of the Bible. I want the book to include the goings on at the court to prompt it, how the translators, editors, compilers, etc…were chosen, how they chose the texts, any stories during the translation, the final assembly, and the epilogue. Most to the point, I wanted a history of the hands on stuff, not the general context of its creation. Does anybody have any good recommendations on the subject? Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/2 "2010-01-09T03:30:16Z")
I think God’s Secretaries is the most recent popular book on the subject, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/3 "2010-01-09T03:31:50Z")
Check out Adam Nicolson’s “God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible”. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/4 "2010-01-09T03:38:45Z")
Looking at the Amazon reviews, it looks like the other two popular books on the subject are Benson Bobrick’s Wide as the Waters and Alister McGrath’s In the Beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/5 "2010-01-09T03:38:45Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I think God’s Secretaries is the most recent popular book on the subject, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I enjoyed it, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/6 "2010-01-09T03:53:36Z")
_Misquoting Jesus_, about textual criticism in general, was good on the information side, but the writing itself wasn’t good, poorly organized, and repetitive. It touches upon KJV a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/7 "2010-01-09T18:07:56Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > _Misquoting Jesus_, about textual criticism in general, was good on the information side, but the writing itself wasn’t good, poorly organized, and repetitive. It touches upon KJV a little bit. I’d say the same thing about “God’s Secretaries.” Horribly edited. But there’s some good information that’s repeated multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/8 "2010-01-10T02:12:36Z")
Thanks, guys! I’ll check out these rascals. hh ---
**Author:** ![ragerdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@ragerdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ragerdude)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-book-on-kjv-creation/524242/9 "2010-01-10T06:12:17Z")
A very important primary source is the essay “The Translators to the Reader,” in which the actual King James translators _themselves_ explain and defend their process of translation. It is still printed as a preface to a few editions of the KJV. [http://www.ccel.org/bible/kjv/preface/pref1.htm](http://www.ccel.org/bible/kjv/preface/pref1.htm)