James G. Crossley is Professor at the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St Mary's University, UK.

• Preface to the 2016 EditionIntroduction Chapter 1: ‘Chaos is a Ladder’: A Reception History of the Bible in English PoliticsPart I: Experiencing Defeat Chapter 2: Christopher Hill’s World Turned Upside Down Chapter 3: This Was England: The Similitudes of Enoch Powell Part II: Thatcherism and the Harnessing of ChaosChapter 4: ‘Your Arms Are Just Too Short to Box with God’: Margaret Thatcher’s Neoliberal Bible Part III: Carriers of Cultural ChangeChapter 5: ‘We’re All Individuals’: When Life of Brian Collided with ThatcherismChapter 6: Saving Margaret from the Guillotine: Independent Music in Manchester from the Rise of Thatcher to the Rise of Blair Part IV: From Thatcher’s Legacy to Blair’s LegacyChapter 7: Your Own Personal Judas: The Rehabilitation of Jeffrey ArcherChapter 8: 45 Minutes from Doom! Tony Blair and the Radical Bible Rebranded Chapter 9: The Gove Bible versus the Occupy Bible Conclusion: Why Do Politicians Bother with the Bible? Postscript: Harnessing Chaos, Again: David Cameron, Russell Brand, Jeremy CorbynBibliography

James Crossley is not only an exegete of biblical texts, but an exegete of exegesis - that is, concerned with the ways in which the construal of 'religion' in neoliberal political theory has had a profound impact on the reading and use of the Bible. Taking England since 1968 as his focus, Crossley offers an incisive analysis of how the Bible has been implicated in political discourse and how its role as a supposed touchstone of shared values has been invoked variously in support of the State's role in the welfare of its citizens, the war on the British labour movement, and the political construct of "True Religion" in the "War on Terror." This is required reading for anyone who thinks that biblical exegesis is a historically neutral and purely antiquarian project.

James G. Crossley is Professor at the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St Mary's University, UK.

• Preface to the 2016 EditionIntroduction Chapter 1: ‘Chaos is a Ladder’: A Reception History of the Bible in English PoliticsPart I: Experiencing Defeat Chapter 2: Christopher Hill’s World Turned Upside Down Chapter 3: This Was England: The Similitudes of Enoch Powell Part II: Thatcherism and the Harnessing of ChaosChapter 4: ‘Your Arms Are Just Too Short to Box with God’: Margaret Thatcher’s Neoliberal Bible Part III: Carriers of Cultural ChangeChapter 5: ‘We’re All Individuals’: When Life of Brian Collided with ThatcherismChapter 6: Saving Margaret from the Guillotine: Independent Music in Manchester from the Rise of Thatcher to the Rise of Blair Part IV: From Thatcher’s Legacy to Blair’s LegacyChapter 7: Your Own Personal Judas: The Rehabilitation of Jeffrey ArcherChapter 8: 45 Minutes from Doom! Tony Blair and the Radical Bible Rebranded Chapter 9: The Gove Bible versus the Occupy Bible Conclusion: Why Do Politicians Bother with the Bible? Postscript: Harnessing Chaos, Again: David Cameron, Russell Brand, Jeremy CorbynBibliography

James Crossley is not only an exegete of biblical texts, but an exegete of exegesis - that is, concerned with the ways in which the construal of 'religion' in neoliberal political theory has had a profound impact on the reading and use of the Bible. Taking England since 1968 as his focus, Crossley offers an incisive analysis of how the Bible has been implicated in political discourse and how its role as a supposed touchstone of shared values has been invoked variously in support of the State's role in the welfare of its citizens, the war on the British labour movement, and the political construct of "True Religion" in the "War on Terror." This is required reading for anyone who thinks that biblical exegesis is a historically neutral and purely antiquarian project.

James G. Crossley is Professor at the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St Mary's University, UK.

• Preface to the 2016 EditionIntroduction Chapter 1: ‘Chaos is a Ladder’: A Reception History of the Bible in English PoliticsPart I: Experiencing Defeat Chapter 2: Christopher Hill’s World Turned Upside Down Chapter 3: This Was England: The Similitudes of Enoch Powell Part II: Thatcherism and the Harnessing of ChaosChapter 4: ‘Your Arms Are Just Too Short to Box with God’: Margaret Thatcher’s Neoliberal Bible Part III: Carriers of Cultural ChangeChapter 5: ‘We’re All Individuals’: When Life of Brian Collided with ThatcherismChapter 6: Saving Margaret from the Guillotine: Independent Music in Manchester from the Rise of Thatcher to the Rise of Blair Part IV: From Thatcher’s Legacy to Blair’s LegacyChapter 7: Your Own Personal Judas: The Rehabilitation of Jeffrey ArcherChapter 8: 45 Minutes from Doom! Tony Blair and the Radical Bible Rebranded Chapter 9: The Gove Bible versus the Occupy Bible Conclusion: Why Do Politicians Bother with the Bible? Postscript: Harnessing Chaos, Again: David Cameron, Russell Brand, Jeremy CorbynBibliography

James Crossley is not only an exegete of biblical texts, but an exegete of exegesis - that is, concerned with the ways in which the construal of 'religion' in neoliberal political theory has had a profound impact on the reading and use of the Bible. Taking England since 1968 as his focus, Crossley offers an incisive analysis of how the Bible has been implicated in political discourse and how its role as a supposed touchstone of shared values has been invoked variously in support of the State's role in the welfare of its citizens, the war on the British labour movement, and the political construct of "True Religion" in the "War on Terror." This is required reading for anyone who thinks that biblical exegesis is a historically neutral and purely antiquarian project.