"A mere nineteen lines in the book of Genesis, [the story of Abraham and Isaac] rests at the heart of the history, literature, theology, and sacred rituals of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For more than two millennia, people throughout the world have grappled with the troubling questions about sacrifice, authority, obedience, and faith to which the story gives rise. Writing from the vantage of 'a reader, a son, a Jew, a father, a skeptic, a historian, a lover of stories, and a writer,' Goodman gives us [a] ... narrative history that moves from its biblical origins to its place in the cultures and faiths of our time"--Dust jacket flap.