Since the first publication of this book in 1959 it has become a classic: It is a sober and objective account by a scholar who has taken a leading part in the editing and evaluation of the Qumran texts.

The book opens with an account of the history of the finds, and each subsequent chapter deals with a single but major area of scroll research. Each records an attempt to achieve in a given area a synthesis, or at least a systematic interpretation, of the facts now available. Old and new, published and unpublished data are drawn upon.

For this revised edition, the history of the finds has been updated to the present, and a final chapter has been added detailing some of the author's views of and reactions to recent discussions and publications not found in the earlier editions.