And he provides a gripping — and very chilling — account of the execution of King Charles I in 1649, embroidered with some meditations on why republicanism never took hold for long in Britain, as opposed to France, where a procession of philosophers boasted that the beheading of Louis XVI "marked the end of an age of magical, divine authority and the birth of an age of reason".
If Enlightenment thinkers would be astonished at the persistence in the west of what, in appearance at least, amounts to magical ritual, then the communist authorities who strove to eliminate such practices in China and the Soviet Union must be turning in their mausoleums.
Although they perform ceremonies, hold positions of authority, and possess magical abilities, the structure and quality of their transcendental activities are entirely different from that of the shaman.
Watching the ethereal, glowing Marling morph into the hard-living, world-weary protagonist of Townes Van Zandt's Waiting to Die becomes a musical magical trick, such is the authority she displays.
Two months ago, however, in a wrongheaded decision, a Federal District Court judge ruled that the agency had not only exceeded its authority but resorted to "magical thinking" to justify its action.
"June 30 will not be some magical date when Iraqis suddenly assume authority," said Dan Senor, an American adviser.
Given that, the realm of the magical for priests, the divine transcendent authority of God for prophets, the human reason for the Enlightenment philosophers are all sources of knowledge.
Concentrated in the chief is the common inheritance of the magical power of the community, and his authority is based solely on the possession and exercise of this supernatural power.
Apple has submitted its magical and wonderful device, the iPad, to the relevant authorities over there.
