Dominion Or Decline

A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.

Todd, Alpheus. Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies. Edited by His Son. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894. xx, 929 pp. Reprinted 2006 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-617-8. ISBN-10: 1-58477-617-X. Cloth. $150.* Reprint of the Second edition. By 1894 Great Britain possessed the largest formal empire that ever existed, one that ranged across a bewildering variety of lands and cultures. A remarkable work of synthesis and analysis, Todd's treatise is an excellent guide to its political and legal administration at the time when the empire stood at its zenith. In the course of nineteen lucid chapters it describes how Parliamentary government functions in the Colonies, the ways imperial control manages the appointment and control of governors, local legislation, internal administration, military, naval, and ecclesiastical matters, foreign relations, imperial legislation, judicial appeals, grant of honours and the use of royal prerogatives, particularly mercy. Other chapters examine administrative and legislative jurisdiction over subordinate provinces of a central colonial government, the constitutions and powers of colonial parliaments and the double position and functions of colonial governors or lieutenant-governors.