'Thoughtful, entertaining and elegantly written ... Amid the flood of new books on the making of the British Empire, Leviathan stands out as one of the best. Much of the book's strength lies in its uncompromising insistence on the importance of institutions and politics ... There are delightful character sketches and witty asides' Sunday Times 'Leviathan deserves to be widely read; Scott negotiates vast terrain with clear, lively prose and weaves his argument around vivid pen portraits and telling anecdotes ... Above all this is a stirring narrative' History Today 'Challenging and erudite ... perceptive ... Scott is superb when he casts his eye on the culture of the times ... [his] telling of this vast series of contingencies is masterful. Epic in scale, shrewd in judgement, utterly convincing, Leviathan demands the widest possible readership' Literary Review

David Scott is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the History of Parliament Trust and has formerly taught at both York and Yale Universities. His previous book (for Palgrave) 'Politics and War in the Three Stuart Kingdoms 1637-49' was chosen by the Sunday Telegraph as one of its Books of the Year in 2004.