I Samuel is Volume 8 in the  Anchor Bible series of new, book-by book  translations of the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha. In  his series debut, P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., has  written a volume of interest and value to both the  scholar and the general  reader.
McCarter's treatment of I Samuel  consists  of:
Introduction : review of the literary problems and  historical circumstances surrounding the writing of  the  book.
Translation : fresh and authoratative, this new  translation of I Samuel fully utilizes  for the first time ancient manuscript fragments  found at Qumran.
Textual  Notes : for the scholar, technical  information on the texts used in the  translation.
Notes : for the untrained  reader, descriptions of people, places, customs,  and unusual features of the  language.
Commentary : an explanatory  summary of each passage of  translation.
Maps : illustrating the book's  dramatic events.