The House of Government

CONTENTS

Preface

XI

Acknowledgments

XVII

BOOK ONE | EN ROUTE

PART I | ANTICIPATION

3

1. The Swamp

5

2. The Preachers

23

3. The Faith

73

PART II | FULFILLMENT

119

4. The Real Day

121

5. The Last Battle

158

6. The New City

180

7. The Great Disappointment

220

8. The Party Line

272

BOOK TWO | AT HOME

PART III | THE SECOND COMING

315

9. The Eternal House

317

10. The New Tenants

377

11. The Economic Foundations

408

12. The Virgin Lands

421

13. The Ideological Substance

454

PART IV | THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS

479

14. The New Life

481

15. The Days Off

508

16. The Houses of Rest

535

17. The Next of Kin

552

18. The Center of the World

582

19. The Pettiness of Existence

610

20. The Thought of Death

623

21. The Happy Childhood

645

22. The New Men

665

BOOK THREE | ON TRIAL

PART V | THE LAST JUDGMENT

697

23. The Telephone Call

699

24. The Admission of Guilt

715

25. The Valley of the Dead

753

26. The Knock on the Door

773

27. The Good People

813

28. The Supreme Penalty

840

PART VI | THE AFTERLIFE

871

29. The End of Childhood

873

30. The Persistence of Happiness

887

31. The Coming of War

912

32. The Return

924

33. The End

946

Epilogue: The House on the Embankment

961

Appendix: Partial List of Leaseholders

983

Notes

995

Index

1083