"Though we do not normally connect air-raid shelters with peace, I must confess that the fact that I had to live in an air-raid shelter during the 'blitz' of 1940 and 1941 gave me time and opportunity to do the reading necessary for this study in the life and importance of Richard Baxter. Some may consider that this work is merely another example of flogging a dead horse, but ideas which have rocked nations do not die as quickly as horses, and with the emergence of talk on Church reunion it is well that all parties should remind themselves of the origins and purpose of what is termed Nonconformity." -- From the Preface

Challenging the assumptions of modern political and legal philosophy, this book presents a historical account of the development of thinking about justice and political obligations. It argues against the modern fixation with the state, and for a return to traditional conceptions of political community and the law.