A Dialogue between a Philosopher and a Student of the Common Laws of England

Hobbes's masterpiece of 1651, where life without government is nasty, brutish and short, and a social contract creates an all-powerful sovereign. The complete text, including the parts on religion and the church.

Thomas Hobbes

The English version of De Cive, where Hobbes first set out his case for peace under an absolute sovereign. Its three parts move from liberty to dominion to religion, in a shorter path than Leviathan.

Thomas Hobbes

The political half of The Elements of Law, the 1640 work where Hobbes first argued for a strong sovereign as the cure for civil war. A compact version of the ideas he later expanded in Leviathan.

Thomas Hobbes