A portrait of Peter as a strong and passionate leader whose complex relations with other early Christians, particularly Paul, mirrored the ferment of his times.

Michael Grant's “biography” of St. Peter is an interesting case study in the historical reconstruction of a character about whom there is almost no historical evidence. This life of Peter is written by a process of negation that is instructive as both an historical and a literary technique. Grant brackets legendary and mythical material, including accounts of miracles. He highlights narrative techniques available to communities with a stake in remembering Peter and, against the background of those techniques, fills in accounts of Jesus, Paul, James, and others with whom Peter was associated in his lifetime. In the midst of the bracketing, the highlighting, and the filling in, Peter emerges more as an absence than a presence. Particularly in cases where historical evidence has been suppressed for personal or political reasons, this process of negation is a creative way to encounter characters who would otherwise remain hopelessly obscure. Since that description fits virtually every life worthy of historical investigation, Grant's study is a valuable contribution to the art of biography as much as to the memory of Peter.