Charles Augustus Briggs and the Crisis of Historical Criticism

I couldn't decide between rating this a 3 or a 4 so consider it a B-. the reason is hard to put my finger on, but basically i finished the book thinking he had a lot more to say about historicism and was holding back. something about the way he started down pathways, intrigued me, then stopped short of really telling me something new. just an odd feeling overall. The book is an investigation of the rise of modern higher criticism of the Bible via a direct examination of the life and work of Charles Briggs. Good idea, pretty good implementation. I learned a lot about Briggs and somethings about Massa. But i ended up wanting more detail and a slightly lower level of explanation. It is obvious that higher criticism is built on historicism (at least to me after reading the book, he does make the case well) but what are the hermeneutical principles and more importantly the underlying epistemological questions that higher criticism was trying to solve? it is certainly part of a greater movement of the 19thC towards using scientific epistemology in religion and in history, but i think he ought to write a second book putting Briggs into context on these lower levels of philosophic thinking. But for an introduction to Briggs and to the years where liberalism entered into the Presbyterian church in particular it is perhaps the most recommended book to me. This was part of a Sunday School class on the history of American Presbyterianism for me and as such was a crucial and important writing for me. thanks to the author, i hope to see more from his word processor. especially something on epistemology of higher criticism. thanks.