Our information about James is very sparse in the Gospels, but is augmented in Acts, the Pauline Epistles, and even in Josephus (if he is "James the Just")

In contrast, there are several stories about Peter in the Gospels, and in Acts, but they cease abruptly after his escape from a Herodian prison. He appears one more time after that.

Traditionally, I Peter has always been considered to have been written by the Peter of the gospels, but recently critics have queried the fact that the Greek is good, whereas all the disciples are described as "unlettered laymen" in Acts. The frequent references to persecution and to the "dispersion" are difficult to date if we accept Eusebius' account that Peter died at about the same time as Paul -- around 65 CE.

Peter does, however, acknowledge that Silvanus helped with the writing. Perhaps, if Silvanus produced a literate draft, Peter would be disinclined to tamper with it in detail.

We looked at the dates of the Domitian and Neronian persecutions, both of which are later that the presumed date of Peter's death. One usually overlooked possibility is the attack on Christians by Agrippa. This may well have led to a mass exodus from Judaea by Christians, and would allow for an early dating of I Peter, which might then even be the earliest Christian document.