The Prince and Selected Discourses: Machiavelli

by Niccolò Machiavelli

Machiavelli composed The Prince as a practical guide for ruling (though some scholars argue that the book was intended as a satire and essentially a guide on how not to rule). This goal is evident from the very beginning, the dedication of the book to Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence. The Prince is not particularly theoretical or abstract; its prose is simple and its logic straightforward. These traits underscore Machiavelli’s desire to provide practical, easily understandable advice.(from Spark Notes)

146 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

The Prince , book of Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian political theorist, in
1513 describes an indifferent ruler to moral considerations with determination to achieve and to maintain power.

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, a philosopher, musician, and poet, wrote plays. He figured centrally in component of the Renaissance, and people most widely know his realist treatises on the one hand and republicanism of Discourses on Livy .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%...

Reviews

[Guillermo Toscano · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Prince is how Machiaveli thought the world was, discourses are how the world aught to be. It's interesting how he distinguishes his ideals from reality so starkly and presents his advice for what he considered the reality of politics at the time.

Also funny to think that The Prince was a job application, its obvious how disillusioned he was with politics. Although one can take a surface level analysis of The Prince as Machiaveli being a cynical bad actor, I think its clear he wishes it was different.

I suppose if he were alive today he wouldnt think politics had changed much.

[Kim Faner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Reviews

“The Prince” is the most comprehensive individual résumé, and I don’t think that has been beaten to this day. Reading it was easy, because its sole intended reader, Lorenzo de’ Medici, was sort of a noob at the time. Machiavelli’s analyses on the rises and downfalls of princes, kings, and emperors were properly supported by historical events where footnotes from this edition definitely helps.

In the book, Machiavelli’s desire to help lead Italy to prosperity is evident. He explored different kinds of leadership in history and proposed a way to better govern the Italy of his time. His insights on social behavior were mostly general, and, I think, that is the reason why this is a timeless reading; the leaders of today are still the same as the leaders of yester-hundreds-of-years (or is it because of this book why it is so?).

And, since The Prince was written with a certain goal in mind—and that is to persuade de’ Medici to hire Machiavelli in his government—I appreciated more the chapters on “The Discourse” where Machiavelli reacted to Titus Livy’s “History of Rome.” Here, I believe, Machiavelli touched on more human and social truths without getting muddled up in desperation by analyzing as much history as he did in “The Prince.”

[Will Graham Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken in context, I can certainly understand why this is such a revolutionary piece of political philosophy. It is completely focused on attaining and maintaining power, with no concern for morality. Plenty to disagree with in his logic and objective. A bit dense and not the most enjoyable read.

[Lancer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and timeless.

[Amber Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd time reading...this time with the Discourses. Extremely straightforward based off experience...don't really get or see the major 'evilness ' about it. Its actual instead of idealistic.