The Bible is not a single book that was composed in one place during a single period of time. Instead, it is a collection of sacred texts – histories, prophecies, prayers, philosophies, moral tales, and proverbs – that was written over many centuries by many different people. These texts were eventually accepted by Jews and, later, by Christians as Holy Scripture. A brief explanation of what happened in the intervening years as far as what books are included and what books are not included in today's Christian Bible is given in Harvey Minkoff's Introduction. A brief summary and discussion of each book of the Apocrypha – the "missing" books of the Bible – follows. Dr. Minkoff was Professor of English Linguistics at Hunter College of the City University of New York.