First Kings is a book of kings, and there are a lot of them. The first half focuses on king Solomon. Adonijah, David's fourth son, was never really a king, but attempted to steal the throne that was eventually given to Solomon. Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon and became the first king of the northern kingdom. In an interesting episode from Soloman's life, the Queen of Sheba paid him a royal visit.
The prophet Elijah occupies several chapters of the book. Elijah lives during the reign of Ahab, a particularly evil king of the northern kingdom. Ahab's wife Jezebel was so evil, even her name seems to be associated today with all things bad.
Jerusalem, the center of Solomon's kingdom remained the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom placed its capital in Samaria. When Jeroboam established his separate kingdom, he set up worship centers to compete with Jerusalem at Bethel and Dan.
