This is some delicate territory, and even the way you ask the question can be read as offensive by some.

A highly readable primer to biblical history is a book called "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Friedman. (http://www.amazon.com/Wrote-Bible-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/0060630353)

But that is just one angle on an enormous field of study that touches on almost every science known to man!

As someone who has read many books on the subject, but am no expert on it, I'd suggest reading Friedman's book to get a general lay of the land (what is "The Bible?", what is canon?, how did it become canon?, How can we date sections of the bible to different times/places/sects?, etc.), and once you have read that, you will definitely have more questions. But they will be more pointed and directed than the one you asked today.

(This is a LONG journey, but REALLY worth it. Totally fascinating stuff to research. And there are new discoveries and ideas coming up regularly enough to keep you interested for a long time.)

I'd be happy to tackle this question, but I'd like to get a clarifier in here somewhere in regards to the "bible" since the common bible we have today, compiling the New and Old Testaments have quite complicated histories.

Because what you are asking is quite complicated, would you be able to narrow down what you are asking for? For instance, are you curious about the New Testament or the Old Testament? Are you asking about how the books were made, in terms of who wrote them, or more curious about why certain books were taken to become the "canon" and others were discarded?