Traditionally believed to be written by King Solomon himself, though later attributed to his friends and followers, the author of the Greek text is well versed in the popular philosophical, religious, and ethical writings adopted by Hellenistic Alexandria. In his introduction, Piers Paul Read contemplates this story that impressed him greatly as a child, one in which wisdom pleases God so greatly he gives Solomon everything else besides.

Author Biography

Piers Paul Read was born in Buckinghamshire and studied History at Cambridge University. His books include the novel Monk Dawson, for which he won a Hawthornden Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award, and A Married Man which was dramatised for television in 1984 with Anthony Hopkins in the title role. A work of non-fiction, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, documented the story of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 and was adapted into the 1993 film Alive. In 1988 he was awarded a James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel, A Season in the West. Piers Paul Read lives in London.