This article examines recent trends in the study of the book of Kings in the 1990s and in the beginning years of the third millennium. It focuses on issues pertaining to: composition and redaction; structure; sources; purpose; and date of the book. After a survey of recent commentaries, the studies on the book of Kings are presented in various circles and contexts, such as the Deuteronomistic History, the relation of the book of Kings with other biblical sources, and several disciplines, including text criticism, history and historiography, archaeology, cult and religion, society, and literary criticism. The second part of this article, scheduled to appear in a subsequent issue of Currents, will deal with specific literary units of the book of Kings.