What is the most common form of government in history? Whether one has the ancient past or current events in mind it is tempting to point to anarchy, but Oakley (history of ideas, Williams College) asserts that kingship holds that honor, tracing its progress and variations from the advent of the Neolithic to the modern industrial world. He begins with the concept of kingship as a divine identity, in which kings were set hovering in the space between the gods and humans, and continues with the concept of kings as saviors and shepherds in Hellenistic, Roman, biblical, and early Islamic cultures, and establishes links to Christian kingship in imperial Rome, Byzantium and Russia, the Germanic kingdoms and the sacral rulers of medieval and early modern Europe. Finally, he finds the roots of decline of kingship far before most in this cynical and post-industrial age had assumed. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)