In recent days the state Labor Government has been likened to the last years of the Roman empire, what with fornication, plotting of coups and attempted overthrow of emperors.

But on the coffee table of the Premier, Nathan Rees, this week sat a book not about an empire in decline but about one's construction: Niall Ferguson's Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World.

Today marks Rees's first anniversary in the job. People doubted he would make it this far, so determined were some within the parliamentary Labor party to have him bumped off.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-year-on-rees-vows-he-wont-be-worn-down-20090904-fbhx.html