Combining insights from social and literary theory with a firm grasp of traditional historical studies, Brett argues that the Book of Genesis can be read as resistance literature. In Brett's illuminating analysis, stories such as the marriages of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well as the narratives of Hagar, Dinah and Tamar reveal that the editors of Genesis were directly engaged with contemporary issues--especially the nature of an authentic community--and that the book was designed to undermine the ethnocentrism of the imperial governors of the Persian period.