He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1999 and served, for three years, as a Harper Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. He has published numerous articles on early modern religion, politics, and political thought, and is regular book reviewer for publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the Times Literary Supplement. His first book, The Allegiance of Thomas Hobbes, was published by Oxford University Press in 2005. He is currently writing a second book on early modern religious conflict and the origins of liberal political order.