Dominion

First published in 2019, Tom Holland’s Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind traces the extraordinary influence of Christianity on the moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the modern West. Moving from the ancient world and the teachings of Jesus to the Roman Empire, the medieval Church, the Reformation, and the secular movements of the modern age, Holland explores how ideas once regarded as radical came to shape Western assumptions about justice, compassion, human dignity, and individual freedom. Drawing on history, theology, and classical civilisation, he reveals the often-unrecognised Christian origins of principles that even avowedly secular societies continue to take for granted.

Holland, whose earlier work examined the ancient world, approaches Christianity with the perspective of a historian trained to understand the beliefs and values of past civilisations on their own terms. His central argument is both provocative and illuminating: the West remains profoundly Christian in its moral instincts, even where religious belief has receded. Dominion is an expansive history of ideas, examining the tensions between faith and power, suffering and redemption, and religious conviction and social change. It offers a compelling reconsideration of the cultural inheritance that continues to shape contemporary debates about morality, equality, and what it means to be human.

From the book

“Christianity was, and is, the most influential factor in the development of Western civilisation.”

— Tom Holland, Dominion

On Dominion

“An absorbing survey of Christianity’s subversive origins and enduring influence.”

— Terry Eagleton, The Guardian