""During the time men live without a common Power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called Warre." Written during the turmoil of the English Civil War, Leviathan is an ambitious and highly original work of political philosophy. Claiming that man's essential nature is competitive and selfish, Hobbes formulates the case for a powerful sovereign -- or "Leviathan" -- to enforce peace and the law, substituting security for the...

One of the most significant works of economic theory ever written. How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? In this classic book, Milton Friedman provides the definitive statement of an immensely influential economic philosophy, one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom. First published...

"The second volume of the bestselling landmark work on the history of the modern state Writing in The Wall Street Journal, David Gress called Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order "magisterial in its learning and admirably immodest in its ambition." In The New York Times Book Review, Michael Lind described the book as "a major achievement by one of the leading public intellectuals of our time." And in The Washington Post, Gerard DeGrott exclaimed...

The most fundamental definition of liberty is that people are free from violence, intimidation, and other demeaning acts. Acemoglu and Robinson examine how and why human societies have achieved liberty-- or failed to achieve it. Believing that liberty is a basic aspiration of all human beings, they examine why it has been rare in history-- and is rare today. -- adapted from foreword