Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind

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Clearly Holland is precisely the type of thinker that he describes Nietzsche holding in such contempt - i. In a mixed review, Gerard DeGroot, writing for The Sunday Times, wrote that "while I don't remotely accept Holland's thesis, I have to commend the originality of this book, not to mention his brave ambition. So profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western civilisation that it has come to be hidden from view. Ranging in time from the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC to the on-going migration crisis in Europe today, and from Nebuchadnezzar to the Beatles, it will explore just what it was that made Christianity so revolutionary and disruptive; how completely it came to saturate the mind-set of Latin Christendom; and why, in a West that has become increasingly doubtful of religion’s claims, so many of its instincts remain irredeemably Christian.

In 2007, he was the winner of the Classical Association prize, awarded to ‘the individual who has done most to promote the study of the language, literature and civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome’. These men are nationalist bigots, which suggests another sense in which Christianity can be subversive. That is why Dominion will place the story of how we came to be what we are, and how we think the way that we do, in the broadest historical context.It does weaken in later chapters, although discussion concerning the influence of Nietzsche and Darwin upon the Nazis and other aspects of modern history is well done and does highlight differences with Christian philosophy. Terrific: bold, ambitious and passionate -- Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads Tom Holland is fun to read, monstrously erudite, wickedly joyful, and ahead of the established consensus, on average, by four years, three months, and two days -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Incerto (The Black Swan, Antifragile. He is the author of Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic , which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize ; Persian Fire , his history of the Graeco-Persian wars, won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award in 2006 ; Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom , a panoramic account of the two centuries on either side of the apocalyptic year 1000; In the Shadow of the Sword , which covers the collapse of Roman and Persian power in the Near East, and the emergence of Islam; and Dynasty , a portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty.

In balance to these negatives, there were many instances of truly magnificent people who shed life's pleasures and comfort and devoted themselves to spreading the word of God. The book runs as a story through time and this chronological format does help the flow of the book but I do wonder whether a format based on themes might have brought greater clarity to the main argument (i. The past comes to life in smelly ascetics, authoritarian popes, queen-saints, mad philosophers and landladies — women are prominent in this narrative. The author on occasion does some myth-busting and makes a retelling of well known historical events (such as the Galileo debacle) with more context.In this way, both Catholics and atheists might together critique Holland and perhaps mischievously suggest that he is being influenced by his own Protestant background? Like dust particles so fine as to be invisible…they were breathed in equally by everyone: believers, atheists, and those who never paused so much as to think about religion. Holland contends that Western morality, values and social norms ultimately are products of Christianity, [1] [3] [4] stating "in a West that is often doubtful of religion's claims, so many of its instincts remain — for good and ill — thoroughly Christian".

It is an epic masterpiece of storytelling and scholarship which gives an objective picture of the Christian contribution to the development of how we view the world.As he says, “the trace elements of Christianity continued to infuse people’s morals and presumptions so utterly that many failed even to detect their presence.

a b "Briefly Noted "A Game of Birds and Wolves," "Dominion," "Interior Chinatown," and "Stateway's Garden. Among the women were not just educated and relatively wealthy protestors but black women, indigenous women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Muslim women, lesbian, queer and trans women. Holland might also have pointed out that the ancient Romans reserved crucifixion mostly for political rebels. Holland shows how these concepts and events continue to shape our culture, our expectations and norms today, without us realizing where they actually come from.fascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist's eye for character and theme -- Tim Stanley * History Today * A brilliant meditation on how Christianity in its Latin and Protestant forms entirely changed the way humans conceive life and their relationship to each other -- Helen Thompson * New Statesman * An absorbing survey of Christianity's subversive origins and enduring influence is filled with vivid portraits, gruesome deaths and moral debates . Holland gives a moving account of the role played by Christians in fighting racism and segregation in the US. Kinship and blood ties no longer matter, and Jesus’s treatment of his mother is by no means always that of a good Jewish boy.