Who wrote the Bible?

I am reading "Who wrote the Bible?" by RE Friedman. I am finding it fascinating. It was recommended to me as the best short account by my friend Stuart West, who is writing his own book about mistakes and errors in the Bible.
The first thing one can say is that there is no doubt the Bible was written down by a series of individuals and was neither written by God nor dictated by God to Moses, as many people once thought (and some still do). It is most likely that oral history was passed down through generations about the ancient history of our people and was finally written down many centuries after the presumed events. For example, if the Exodus from Egypt occurred historically it was probably around 1200 bce, while the Biblical account of it was probably written down around 900-700 bce. This can be affirmed from many examples of textual analysis, for example how Moses is referred to (in the third person) and how in several cases it is said that things are the same "unto this day" which could not have been known by Moses himself.
Also, by analysis of the way God is referred to and many examples of duplication in the five books of Moses (the Torah) it can be inferred that there were 5 main authors of these works. This type of textual exegesis is known as the "Documentary hypothesis." Since God is referred to as Yahweh (Jehovah in English) and Elohim in almost two mutually exclusively sets of writings in the first three books of Moses, it can be inferred that there were two main authors, referred to as "J" and "E". In fact, these were probably two complete and separate versions, very similar in content but different in style and emphasis. But later at some time point they were apparently edited together into one version "JE" (with many duplications). Then another contributor wrote a version that was mainly concerned about priestly (Levite) matters, he wrote most of Leviticus, and so is referred to as "P." Also later this was combined with JE to make the current edited version "JEP" of the first four books.
Comparison of texts and style show clearly that the last of the five books of Moses, Deuteronomy, was written by someone other than J, E or P, so this author is known as "D." And in fact this writer can also be identified as a priest, since the main concerns of Deuteronomy are priestly concerns, particularly the statement of the laws that govern the practice of religion in the Temple. This same author also probably wrote most of the next 6 books of the Bible, including Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings.
Now what is fascinating is that for a period of 200 years, the Jewish people were divided into 2 kingdoms, Israel and Judah. After the conquest by King David, there was one unified and powerful Kingdom until King Solomon died in 922 bce. Then there was the split and the Kingdom of Israel consisting of the 10 northerly tribes broke away and established its own priesthood (of Levites), while the Kingdom of Judah consisted of Judah (the largest tribe) and Benjamin (the smallest) in the South, including Jerusalem with its original priesthood (Levites descended from Aaron). It is quite clear that the two versions of the first 3 books of Moses were written at this time after the separation of the two kingdoms in 922 bce and before the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 bce, with J writing in Judah and E in Israel. The combination of the two "JE" was then probably accomplished in Judah in the era following the destruction of Israel. "P" was probably a priest in later Judah who disagreed with the JE version and wrote his own shortened version, that was later combined with them. The Prophet Jeremiah lived in the time of King Josiah, who was killed in 622 bce. "D" venerated and wrote about Josiah extensively as a great and faithful King. Friedman identifies Jeremiah as "D." So then we have "JEPD," which is nearly the final version of the five books.
The Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 bce, and many of the survivors were taken into exile in Babylon. There were differences in the policies of the major power in that time, the Assyrians destroyed who they conquered, the Babylonians transferred who they conquered, and the Persians, who then defeated the Babylonians, allowed their defeated nations to live undisturbed. So the exiles in Babylon who had kept the culture of the Jews intact were allowed to return to Judah in 538 bce. Those who returned completed the building of the Second Temple in 516 bce. It was probably Ezra who returned in 458 bce who was the person known as the Editor or Redactor "R" who revised the editing of the whole Bible, seen from his post-exilic perspective after the return, into the form that we have today.
This is a complex story, covering many centuries, but it is a tribute to the insight of these writers that they not only combined some stories seamlessly, but their writings have stood the test of time for more than 2500 years.