The Bible Story States for many years by placing the first volume, which covers the first part of the Book of Genesis, in doctor's offices with postage prepaid postcards included for readers to order the set or ask for more information. Originally written in English, the books have been translated into French and Spanish (as "Las Bellas Historias de la Biblia"), and a new revision has been made based on the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible. "The Bible Story" is jointly published by the Review and Herald Publishing Association and the Pacific Press Publishing Association, both closely associated with the
The Story of the Jews (book) review of the first volume for "The New York Times", Dwight Garner wrote: "Mr. Schama’s 'The Story of the Jews' is exemplary popular history. It’s engaged, literate, alert to recent scholarship and, at moments, winningly personal... Mr. Schama is Jewish, but not especially religious... His loyalty is obviously to the hard evidence. At the same time, he declares that “the ‘minimalist’ view of the Bible as wholly fictitious, and unhooked from historical reality, may be as much of a mistake as the biblical literalism it sought to supersede." Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, reviewing "Belonging" for the "New Statesman",