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Machiavelli in Hell
The author presents a new Machiavelli for this biography that gives a sense of the Florentine thinker;s presence. After telling the story of Machiavelli's childhood and the period of personal crisis that followed his imprisonment and torture, the book turns to The Prince. Thenceforth the facts of biography -- home, journeys, fears and joys, works, friends, and loves -- weave in and out of the narrative as his ideas gather power and come together to form a unified vision of mankind and the world.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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May 15, 2014
This is a fun and enjoyably written biography of Machiavelli - the huge difference in tone and content between this work and Leo Strauss's Thoughts on Machiavelli nicely illustrates how Machiavelli pretty much means everything to everyone at this point. Strauss' depiction features a Machiavelli who brings down most of the western intellectual tradition with his ugly pragmatism and disdain for the spiritual goals of man; de Grazia makes Machiavelli a theologian.
Machiavelli is not your typical theologian of course: he was a bit contemptuous of most aspects of the church, and he had little in common with Platonists like Marsilio Ficino or Pico della Mirandola. Many people had declared him an avowed atheist, and they could probably make a decent case for it. But for de Grazia, Machiavelli had no problem at all with God: he was one of the few subjects that entirely escaped his scorn. Machiavelli only reviled contemporary Christianity, and he reviled it only because he thought it had taken a disastrous turn into passivity. Machiavelli as depicted here is defined by a kind of active resistance: the thread that runs through all his writing is the insistence that mankind can stand against the winds of fortune only by actively fighting against them (either through a prince or a republic). A passive Christianity could not be assimilated into this ideology, so Machiavelli instead promoted an active, political one. God loves those who protect the community, through whatever means necessary. Blessed are the state-builders and all that.
This take on Machiavelli creates a very appealing explanation for Machiavelli's apparent contradictions in thought. His ends-justify-the-means philosophy gets transformed from crass pragmatism into theological doctrine: God loves and rewards those who step into the political arena and are willing to commit sins in the name of the greater good. After all: "God," Machiavelli insists in The Prince "does not want to do everything."
Machiavelli is not your typical theologian of course: he was a bit contemptuous of most aspects of the church, and he had little in common with Platonists like Marsilio Ficino or Pico della Mirandola. Many people had declared him an avowed atheist, and they could probably make a decent case for it. But for de Grazia, Machiavelli had no problem at all with God: he was one of the few subjects that entirely escaped his scorn. Machiavelli only reviled contemporary Christianity, and he reviled it only because he thought it had taken a disastrous turn into passivity. Machiavelli as depicted here is defined by a kind of active resistance: the thread that runs through all his writing is the insistence that mankind can stand against the winds of fortune only by actively fighting against them (either through a prince or a republic). A passive Christianity could not be assimilated into this ideology, so Machiavelli instead promoted an active, political one. God loves those who protect the community, through whatever means necessary. Blessed are the state-builders and all that.
This take on Machiavelli creates a very appealing explanation for Machiavelli's apparent contradictions in thought. His ends-justify-the-means philosophy gets transformed from crass pragmatism into theological doctrine: God loves and rewards those who step into the political arena and are willing to commit sins in the name of the greater good. After all: "God," Machiavelli insists in The Prince "does not want to do everything."
June 1, 2017
Five stars! A delightfully current read. There is a great deal on Trump, Syria, etc. This book is everything that a Pulitzer Prize winner should be.
Machiavelli was just a good guy, and a significant (p. 299) political and moral philosopher, trying to figure out how to make the best of difficult times. "The state has its constitutional perfection, its true and perfect end, in a country where the common good is best observed, that is, in a durable independent republic where law is respected and women honored, where high office is open to all citizens, where social and economic equality obtain, where freedom to enjoy the gains of liberty and industry and to pass them on to one's children is assured - in a "perfect republic," one what that will run "the whole course ordained by heaven." This is the point of it all" (p. 193).
Machiavelli also reflects the move from the aristocratic "man-on-a-horse" to courtiers, and presages the Enlightenment view of human nature. See p. 291.
He is a pre-Reformation Catholic and believes (p. 378, 379, 381) that grace can and must be earned through political action for the common good.
He recognizes "But first of all, confining oneself to ideas, one can point out, that heredity and hereditary claims to rule have no divine support" (p. 381). In this he is a liminal figure between the Late Middle Ages and modernity.
He would be a great guy to have a few glasses of wine, and a good meal, with.
3 The Heavenly Host
"A god who can be a friend, like a man to a friend," as Exodus puts it, has human qualities" (p. 62).
4 The Way of Evil
p. 73. Niccolo the moralist writes of himself as a good man, urges others toward right conduct, and recognizes it as his duty to teach good.
p. 75. The Prince maintains that " one cannot deviate from that to which nature inclines you,"
Yes! You have autonomy to be who you are. You do not have free will to chose to be someone else.
". . . but when these populations assault they "must kill everyone, because they want to live on that which the others were living on." A war involving a migrating or invading population "is cruelest and most terrifying" (p. 85).
5 Clergy and Country
p. 90. Dante and, after him, the scholarly Marsilius of Padua had blamed the papacy for Italy's civil wars and foreign invasions.
p. 101. Without recourse to God and religious devotions, a state cannot be built or stand or be virtuous.
"By losing divine essence, man lost an original nature and obtained a human nature of evil tendency but capable of moral choice" (p. 107).
""I believe that the greatest good that one can do, and the most gratifying to God, is that which one does for one's country." That is the heart of his credo" (p. 114).
6 The Fool of Love
"Syphilis has arrived and is taking giant strides" (p. 127).
"There may be some truth to what his enemies were alluding to when he was Secretary, that he finds to much fault with Florence. Niccolo admits that, "It is true . . . . I am contrary, as in many other things, to the opinion of [Florentine] citizens." One thing is clear. He seems to be on the trail of larger game (p. 149).
"Several pages later, Niccolo repeats with greater force a warning to be found also in "The Prince." "May princes know then that they being to lose [their] state at that hour in which they begin to break the laws and those customs and usages that are ancient and under which men have lived for a long time" (p. 150).
Given the current Administration, I would have to hope so.
7 The Point of it All
"Wars of conquest that dispose of enemy commanders and not infrequently, it may be supposed, the heads of conquered regimes, may be cruel, but wars that involve a migrating population and the killing off or driving out of all the inhabitants of the invaded state, are 'cruelest and most terrifying'" (p. 163). Also p. 166 for more on Syria, etc.
"Without readiness for war, there is neither peace nor liberty" (p. 173).
"In all of this there is no attribution of cause specifically to economic needs or station. Rather, it seems the if men are in no position to oppress, they try not to be oppressed. If they are in a position to oppress, they oppress" (p. 183). Also p. 184.
There is a discussion (p. 191 - 192) of the giving of an abortifacient, to an unknowing woman, by a priest in Machiavelli's "Mandragola," a comedy play. "the piece of flesh has no sensation." There is no evidence that Catholic Italian Renaissance audiences were offended, or believed that life begins at conception.
"He asserts that political and economic freedom generate greater power and riches, a higher birth rate (a brief excursion into politico-demographic theory), and more dynamic men (p. 188).
8 Can Men Govern?
"Thus planning a colony on poor soil will keep its inhabitants hard at labor and far from a corrupting luxury" (p. 198).
Hence North vs. South America.
"Given the power that fortune wields over men, their chance of attaining political objectives through their virtue, reason, courage and altruistic or patriotic motives does not seem worth betting on" (p. 205).
"Neither fortune nor cycles, neither necessity nor naturalism, then forge unbreakable chains for men's rational pursuit through politics, country, and the state, of the common good" (p. 215).
9 The Prince New, and Other Sinners
"In the ruin of its Nobel class Florence had "stripped itself" of fighting quality" (p.228).
Machiavelli is writing at at time when do to changes in weapons technology (the Scottish longbow and gunpowder), the 100 (1337 - 1453) Years War, and plague; the aristocracy has lost much of its "man-on-a-horse" status and courtiers are on the rise.
10 The Truth About Human Things
"No other great philosopher, no great philosophical school before Niccolo, holds that men are evil-prone by nature or stresses that this evil is magnified and distorted in desire, mind, and perception, and compounded by choice" (p. 264).
In this Machiavelli begins the move from Plato and Aristotle to Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer ("the survival of the fittest), John Stuart Mill, etc. (AKA The Enlightenment).
"Augustine's City of God does most to elaborate the implications for human nature of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The enormity of Adam and Eve's offense provoked God to change human nature permanently for the worse. The punishment of the first humans passes on to their issue as something natural and congenital" (p. 265 -266).
So God made me the the "human nature" of a sinner, but I have free will to be something other than I am?
11 The Mirror of the Prince New
""Because this is a general rule that never fails: that a prince who is not wise himself cannot be well advised . . ."" (p. 276).
"The twin procedures of knowledge, we soon find out, are reading and experience" (p. 281). See also p. 288, second paragraph.
12 To Be or to Seem to Be
"A prince should conduct himself so as to be praised by his own people and friendly rulers" (p. 293).
The Un-Golden Rule is some small gift to moral philosophy.
" The one requirement of all qualities employed as means is that they further the common good" (p. 307).
"The inculcation of virtue was typically to being when the prince was young. . . . His personal salvation was at stake" (p. 315).
Here Machiavelli is a liminal figure between the ancients and modernity.
13 The Reform of Hell
"Conversely, without his plays, stories, letters, and verse, we should have no notion of the humor and fun of this man:
14 The Goodly Company
"From The Prince to the Florentine Histories and beyond, our moralist points the finger of shame to one group - the princes old" (p.350).
15 And Great Shall Be Their Reward
"He does not have to pretend to be religious, thereby succumbing to the devil's temptation, because he is already in a state of grace" (p. 365).
"Our writer reposes great faith in reading, specifically in the active kind of careful, non-fanciful, intelligent reading that has imitation and usefulness in mind, and that embraces the most worthy examples and imparts experience vicariously" (p. 369 - 370.). Also p. 366 and the index.
"Our political philosopher wants not only to modify the Christian rites but also to change the objects of veneration of those rites, wants to pass from saints to heroes" (p. 378).
Machiavelli was just a good guy, and a significant (p. 299) political and moral philosopher, trying to figure out how to make the best of difficult times. "The state has its constitutional perfection, its true and perfect end, in a country where the common good is best observed, that is, in a durable independent republic where law is respected and women honored, where high office is open to all citizens, where social and economic equality obtain, where freedom to enjoy the gains of liberty and industry and to pass them on to one's children is assured - in a "perfect republic," one what that will run "the whole course ordained by heaven." This is the point of it all" (p. 193).
Machiavelli also reflects the move from the aristocratic "man-on-a-horse" to courtiers, and presages the Enlightenment view of human nature. See p. 291.
He is a pre-Reformation Catholic and believes (p. 378, 379, 381) that grace can and must be earned through political action for the common good.
He recognizes "But first of all, confining oneself to ideas, one can point out, that heredity and hereditary claims to rule have no divine support" (p. 381). In this he is a liminal figure between the Late Middle Ages and modernity.
He would be a great guy to have a few glasses of wine, and a good meal, with.
3 The Heavenly Host
"A god who can be a friend, like a man to a friend," as Exodus puts it, has human qualities" (p. 62).
4 The Way of Evil
p. 73. Niccolo the moralist writes of himself as a good man, urges others toward right conduct, and recognizes it as his duty to teach good.
p. 75. The Prince maintains that " one cannot deviate from that to which nature inclines you,"
Yes! You have autonomy to be who you are. You do not have free will to chose to be someone else.
". . . but when these populations assault they "must kill everyone, because they want to live on that which the others were living on." A war involving a migrating or invading population "is cruelest and most terrifying" (p. 85).
5 Clergy and Country
p. 90. Dante and, after him, the scholarly Marsilius of Padua had blamed the papacy for Italy's civil wars and foreign invasions.
p. 101. Without recourse to God and religious devotions, a state cannot be built or stand or be virtuous.
"By losing divine essence, man lost an original nature and obtained a human nature of evil tendency but capable of moral choice" (p. 107).
""I believe that the greatest good that one can do, and the most gratifying to God, is that which one does for one's country." That is the heart of his credo" (p. 114).
6 The Fool of Love
"Syphilis has arrived and is taking giant strides" (p. 127).
"There may be some truth to what his enemies were alluding to when he was Secretary, that he finds to much fault with Florence. Niccolo admits that, "It is true . . . . I am contrary, as in many other things, to the opinion of [Florentine] citizens." One thing is clear. He seems to be on the trail of larger game (p. 149).
"Several pages later, Niccolo repeats with greater force a warning to be found also in "The Prince." "May princes know then that they being to lose [their] state at that hour in which they begin to break the laws and those customs and usages that are ancient and under which men have lived for a long time" (p. 150).
Given the current Administration, I would have to hope so.
7 The Point of it All
"Wars of conquest that dispose of enemy commanders and not infrequently, it may be supposed, the heads of conquered regimes, may be cruel, but wars that involve a migrating population and the killing off or driving out of all the inhabitants of the invaded state, are 'cruelest and most terrifying'" (p. 163). Also p. 166 for more on Syria, etc.
"Without readiness for war, there is neither peace nor liberty" (p. 173).
"In all of this there is no attribution of cause specifically to economic needs or station. Rather, it seems the if men are in no position to oppress, they try not to be oppressed. If they are in a position to oppress, they oppress" (p. 183). Also p. 184.
There is a discussion (p. 191 - 192) of the giving of an abortifacient, to an unknowing woman, by a priest in Machiavelli's "Mandragola," a comedy play. "the piece of flesh has no sensation." There is no evidence that Catholic Italian Renaissance audiences were offended, or believed that life begins at conception.
"He asserts that political and economic freedom generate greater power and riches, a higher birth rate (a brief excursion into politico-demographic theory), and more dynamic men (p. 188).
8 Can Men Govern?
"Thus planning a colony on poor soil will keep its inhabitants hard at labor and far from a corrupting luxury" (p. 198).
Hence North vs. South America.
"Given the power that fortune wields over men, their chance of attaining political objectives through their virtue, reason, courage and altruistic or patriotic motives does not seem worth betting on" (p. 205).
"Neither fortune nor cycles, neither necessity nor naturalism, then forge unbreakable chains for men's rational pursuit through politics, country, and the state, of the common good" (p. 215).
9 The Prince New, and Other Sinners
"In the ruin of its Nobel class Florence had "stripped itself" of fighting quality" (p.228).
Machiavelli is writing at at time when do to changes in weapons technology (the Scottish longbow and gunpowder), the 100 (1337 - 1453) Years War, and plague; the aristocracy has lost much of its "man-on-a-horse" status and courtiers are on the rise.
10 The Truth About Human Things
"No other great philosopher, no great philosophical school before Niccolo, holds that men are evil-prone by nature or stresses that this evil is magnified and distorted in desire, mind, and perception, and compounded by choice" (p. 264).
In this Machiavelli begins the move from Plato and Aristotle to Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer ("the survival of the fittest), John Stuart Mill, etc. (AKA The Enlightenment).
"Augustine's City of God does most to elaborate the implications for human nature of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The enormity of Adam and Eve's offense provoked God to change human nature permanently for the worse. The punishment of the first humans passes on to their issue as something natural and congenital" (p. 265 -266).
So God made me the the "human nature" of a sinner, but I have free will to be something other than I am?
11 The Mirror of the Prince New
""Because this is a general rule that never fails: that a prince who is not wise himself cannot be well advised . . ."" (p. 276).
"The twin procedures of knowledge, we soon find out, are reading and experience" (p. 281). See also p. 288, second paragraph.
12 To Be or to Seem to Be
"A prince should conduct himself so as to be praised by his own people and friendly rulers" (p. 293).
The Un-Golden Rule is some small gift to moral philosophy.
" The one requirement of all qualities employed as means is that they further the common good" (p. 307).
"The inculcation of virtue was typically to being when the prince was young. . . . His personal salvation was at stake" (p. 315).
Here Machiavelli is a liminal figure between the ancients and modernity.
13 The Reform of Hell
"Conversely, without his plays, stories, letters, and verse, we should have no notion of the humor and fun of this man:
14 The Goodly Company
"From The Prince to the Florentine Histories and beyond, our moralist points the finger of shame to one group - the princes old" (p.350).
15 And Great Shall Be Their Reward
"He does not have to pretend to be religious, thereby succumbing to the devil's temptation, because he is already in a state of grace" (p. 365).
"Our writer reposes great faith in reading, specifically in the active kind of careful, non-fanciful, intelligent reading that has imitation and usefulness in mind, and that embraces the most worthy examples and imparts experience vicariously" (p. 369 - 370.). Also p. 366 and the index.
"Our political philosopher wants not only to modify the Christian rites but also to change the objects of veneration of those rites, wants to pass from saints to heroes" (p. 378).
December 18, 2020
De Grazia’s intellectual biography takes what might be the wholly unique form of being stitched together solely from the body of Machiavelli’s own work. The entire book doesn’t have a single secondary source cited in it, relying wholly on Machiavelli’s own work as a Florentine government official, two comic plays (“Clizia” and “Mandragola”), “Il Principe,” “Discourses on Livy,” and Machiavelli’s own journals and letters. De Grazia is going for Machiavelli strictly in his own words – a way he’s almost never shown in scholarly presentations. This might be refreshing a refreshing entrée into Machiavelli’s work, but may be a source of frustration for scholars who read De Grazia’s conclusions knowing very well that they have sometimes already been made elsewhere.
I found this book very difficult to categorize: it straddles the line of intellectual history, biography, and an attempted synthesis of nearly all Machiavelli’s important ideas. De Grazia emphasizes (and perhaps this is what the title is pointing toward) the ways in which Machiavelli was forced to justify the need for evil to the rulers that he served. The ideas of religion and patriotism, taken up in the Discorsi, come to reflect Machiavelli’s bourgeoning idea of a realpolitik. De Grazia looks at Machiavelli’s life and work in thematic clusters – love, cruelty, justice, evil, et cetera.
If there was one thing to recommend this book, it would be the way in which de Grazia tries to inhabit Machiavelli’s intellectual world, instead of simply trying to analytically reconstruct it. It’s written in the intimate way someone would write about their times with a close personal friend. This allows for the author to deconstruct old boundaries that are usually respected in attempts at intellectual biography: the division between personal and private life, between his subject’s moral weaknesses and intellectual strengths. De Grazia gives you Machiavelli here, warts and all.
This would be a good place to start for undergraduates who have only been spoonfed stereotypes about what Machiavelli is all about (likely by professors who have never read him either and have only been exposed to the same shopworn stereotypes): how to inform power-hungry despots who will stop at nothing to maintain complete control. It presents its subject as very much a man of his own time - but also a subtle thinker whose ideas grow organically out of his involvement with the books that he read and his experience as a Florentine diplomat.
I found this book very difficult to categorize: it straddles the line of intellectual history, biography, and an attempted synthesis of nearly all Machiavelli’s important ideas. De Grazia emphasizes (and perhaps this is what the title is pointing toward) the ways in which Machiavelli was forced to justify the need for evil to the rulers that he served. The ideas of religion and patriotism, taken up in the Discorsi, come to reflect Machiavelli’s bourgeoning idea of a realpolitik. De Grazia looks at Machiavelli’s life and work in thematic clusters – love, cruelty, justice, evil, et cetera.
If there was one thing to recommend this book, it would be the way in which de Grazia tries to inhabit Machiavelli’s intellectual world, instead of simply trying to analytically reconstruct it. It’s written in the intimate way someone would write about their times with a close personal friend. This allows for the author to deconstruct old boundaries that are usually respected in attempts at intellectual biography: the division between personal and private life, between his subject’s moral weaknesses and intellectual strengths. De Grazia gives you Machiavelli here, warts and all.
This would be a good place to start for undergraduates who have only been spoonfed stereotypes about what Machiavelli is all about (likely by professors who have never read him either and have only been exposed to the same shopworn stereotypes): how to inform power-hungry despots who will stop at nothing to maintain complete control. It presents its subject as very much a man of his own time - but also a subtle thinker whose ideas grow organically out of his involvement with the books that he read and his experience as a Florentine diplomat.
February 7, 2011
One of the best biographies ever written. -- Of anybody.
December 23, 2024
An artful dissection and interpretation of Machiavelli's works and philosophy, De Grazia proposes a multi-dimensional image of Niccolo—a portrayal that avoids generalizations and oversimplification. Machiavelli emerges as a man who, while pragmatic and cynical about human nature, also advocates for a republican form of government. He envisions a state and leaders committed to his cherished notion of the "common good." Niccolo is a critic of religion and the corrupt practices he observes in the Catholic Church of his time, yet he praises and longs for religion to realize its immense potential to strengthen the state by fostering the moral character of its citizens. Although De Grazia's organization of the book can at times be frustrating, his delivery is generally personal and engaging.
February 8, 2019
Se não for o melhor, é um dos melhores livros sobre o Florentino. A narrativa é inovadora e a prosa do Sebastian é cativante. O respeito do autor pelo secretário Florentino demonstra que De Grazia conseguiu penetrar as camadas de suposições, e chegar ao que eu suponho ser o mais próximo possível do verdadeiro coração do Homem enigmático, que foi Nicolò Machiavegli
August 26, 2017
As idiosyncratic as it is compelling. Rife with amusing Italianisms, scatalogical digressions and pretty Renaissance paintings. Has a brilliantly odd way of approaching Machiavelli, the world's most misquoted philosopher after Nietsche and Donald Trump. Basically presents him as an off-color theologian hell-bent on restoring old Roman virtus. Doesn't try to round off the contradictory edges either. Dense, scattered, reads like your favorite professor rambling from behind his desk about his favorite subject and you're not entirely sure he remembers you're there. Will read again.
September 8, 2025
Sebastian De Grazia's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Artistic Biography Chronicles The Life & Times Of The Famed Florentine Statesman, Niccolò Machiavelli.
Have you ever read a book that is written in a style so unique, you almost don't know how to classify it ? That's how I felt after reading Sebastian De Grazia's magnum opus, 'Machiavelli In Hell'. De Grazia lived from 1917 - 2000 & his illustrious career included a tenure working for the Central Intelligence Agency's progenitor, the Office of Strategic Services as an analyst during the brutal years of the Second World War. Originally born in Chicago, Sebastian eventually became a political philosophy instructor at the illustrious Rutgers University. He did a lot of instructing at Rutgers, from 1962 - 1988. He published a book in 1962 that was so well-received it garnered De Grazia the affectionate nickname, 'The Father Of Leisure'. Then, in 1990 he released 'Machiavelli In Hell', a work of such dominance it earned him the Pulitzer Prize. After finishing his book I most assuredly can say that it was an honor well-deserved.
Niccolò's own tenure in hell consists of three hundred eighty pages, divided into fifteen lengthy chapters. This is not a book for casual admirers of Machiavelli, nor is it for readers unfamiliar with the four extant writings constituting Niccolò's primary political canon, which are 'Il Principe', 'Discoursi Sopra La Prima Deca Di Tito Livio', 'L'Arte Della Guerra', & 'L'Istorie Fiorentine'. Normally, I am all for recommending curious readers to just dive into books on historical figures such as this & learn as they go, because nobody likes to hear someone say that any book's subject matter is too advanced for their level of knowledge. With De Grazia's biography on Niccolò Machiavelli however, my own knowledge base was barely sufficient as I kept pace with the author's often erudite-level arguments & points of discussion. Much of 'Hell's subject matter focuses on lesser-known, more obscure Machiavellian works such as the three 'Sonetti Della Prigione', two of which are addressed to Cardinal Giulio de'Medici & reflect the abject suffering Niccolò endured when subjected to 'Strappado' torture after he was accused of treason when the Medici clan returned to Florence with a vengeance in 1512. One of them, entitled 'On Ambition', was unknown to me prior to reading De Grazia's book & among my favorite parts of the novel.
Early on De Grazia clearly emphasizes four major Renaissance Florentine events that would shape Niccolò's entire career : 1478's infamous Pazzi Conspiracy, the Battle of Poggio Imperiale in 1479, the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1492, & French monarch Charles VIII's entry into Florence in 1494. He goes on to explain in detail all four of these momentous historical occurrences in copious detail, & this portion of 'Hell' I found almost endlessly intriguing. Another part I absolutely loved was in chapter VI, 'Women In Politics', where he speaks of Galeazzo Maria Sforza's daughter, the Madonna Caterina Sforza, & her brave defiance of her besiegers as she stood on the battlements of Forli. Sforza's son, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, would became a condottiere who died at a very young age, fighting Charles V. Signor Giovanni. We also hear the sad tale of Queen Rosamunda, wife of Alboin, King of the Longobards. In a vicious love triangle, Rosamund entices Helmechis, a nobleman serving King Alboin to murder his liege lord. After committing the vile deed Rosamund & Helmechis flee to Ravenna, where after a jealous lovers' quarrel the pair poison one another & both perish, the disgraceful death of the traitor. You can read about this melancholy chain of events in I : VIII of Machiavelli's 'Istorie Fiorentine', I'd suggest to you Laura F. Banfield & Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. translation because it's the one I'm familiar with. I also enjoyed the author's delineation in Chapter VII, 'The Point Of It All' as he speaks of social equality & the three classes of Renaissance noblemen : Landed Gentlemen, Feudal Gentlemen & Gentlemen of Affairs. Sebastian's dominant composition skills also become quite apparent as he defines key Latin terminology : Imperium is a concept associated with Dominion defined as the right, privilege or authority with which to command.
The selection of absolutely stunning Renaissance artwork, architecture & sketches included in 'Machiavelli In Hell' couldn't be more effective in its efforts to illustrate every aspect of this Machiavellian biographical masterpiece, such as Leonardo da Vinci's sketch of the grisly fate of Pazzi Conspirator Bandini de'Baroncelli, hanging from a rope outside the Captain's Palace in his Turkish garb. Baroncelli actually escaped justice at first after the murder of Giulio de'Medici, fleeing to Constantinople. Lorenzo de'Medici, who unfortunately for Baroncelli survived his assassination attempt, persuaded the Turkish Sultan to extradite the conspirator back to Florence, where he was shown no mercy by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Such is the fate of the conspirators when their schemes go awry. At the conclusion of Chapter IV, 'The Way Of Evil', De Grazia's language takes on a staccato, zealous fanaticism that's beautiful to read as he comments on the strong didactic undertones found in Niccolò Machiavelli's writing : 'The freedom to act for good or evil makes their actions liable to moral judgment, & our author does not refrain from judging them. Ingratitude, ambition, envy, greed, cruelty, mass dislocations & killings, tyranny, parricide, impiety & betrayal, & incest he recognizes for what they are : full-blown evil.'
A unique aesthetic choice, the author includes a copious section of expanded notes which unfortunately for me, are exclusively in Italian. They appear to reference 'La Mandragola' & 'La Vita Di Castruccio Castracani Da Lucca' in addition to the primary Machiavellian political canon which you probably already know, so I won't bore you by mentioning it again ! Titles I would suggest that discuss content that enriches what's found in Sebastian De Grazia's book would be the following : Allesandro Campi's 'Machiavelli & Political Conspiracies : The Struggle For Power In The Italian Renaissance' for its detailed discussion of the 'Florentine Histories' & the Pazzi Conspiracy, Professor Yves Winter's 'Machiavelli & The Orders Of Violence' for its analysis of Machiavellian political axioms in relation to the numerous acts of political violence committed during the Italian Renaissance & Late Middle Age, & Andrew Brown's translation of 'The Life Of Castruccio Castacani Of Lucca' for relevant subject matter. I'd also suggest Patrick Boucheron's 'Machiavelli : The Art Of Teaching People What To Fear' because it's so easy to jump into & can give the reader a solid foundation to begin enjoying all of Machiavelli's beautiful extant works. The Penguin Classics editions of the George Bull translation of 'The Prince' the Bernard Crick translation of 'Discourses On Livy' would be my recommendations & the De Capo Press Ellis Farneworth translation of 'The Art Of War' is what I suggest for that particular treatise.
Have you ever read a book that is written in a style so unique, you almost don't know how to classify it ? That's how I felt after reading Sebastian De Grazia's magnum opus, 'Machiavelli In Hell'. De Grazia lived from 1917 - 2000 & his illustrious career included a tenure working for the Central Intelligence Agency's progenitor, the Office of Strategic Services as an analyst during the brutal years of the Second World War. Originally born in Chicago, Sebastian eventually became a political philosophy instructor at the illustrious Rutgers University. He did a lot of instructing at Rutgers, from 1962 - 1988. He published a book in 1962 that was so well-received it garnered De Grazia the affectionate nickname, 'The Father Of Leisure'. Then, in 1990 he released 'Machiavelli In Hell', a work of such dominance it earned him the Pulitzer Prize. After finishing his book I most assuredly can say that it was an honor well-deserved.
Niccolò's own tenure in hell consists of three hundred eighty pages, divided into fifteen lengthy chapters. This is not a book for casual admirers of Machiavelli, nor is it for readers unfamiliar with the four extant writings constituting Niccolò's primary political canon, which are 'Il Principe', 'Discoursi Sopra La Prima Deca Di Tito Livio', 'L'Arte Della Guerra', & 'L'Istorie Fiorentine'. Normally, I am all for recommending curious readers to just dive into books on historical figures such as this & learn as they go, because nobody likes to hear someone say that any book's subject matter is too advanced for their level of knowledge. With De Grazia's biography on Niccolò Machiavelli however, my own knowledge base was barely sufficient as I kept pace with the author's often erudite-level arguments & points of discussion. Much of 'Hell's subject matter focuses on lesser-known, more obscure Machiavellian works such as the three 'Sonetti Della Prigione', two of which are addressed to Cardinal Giulio de'Medici & reflect the abject suffering Niccolò endured when subjected to 'Strappado' torture after he was accused of treason when the Medici clan returned to Florence with a vengeance in 1512. One of them, entitled 'On Ambition', was unknown to me prior to reading De Grazia's book & among my favorite parts of the novel.
Early on De Grazia clearly emphasizes four major Renaissance Florentine events that would shape Niccolò's entire career : 1478's infamous Pazzi Conspiracy, the Battle of Poggio Imperiale in 1479, the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1492, & French monarch Charles VIII's entry into Florence in 1494. He goes on to explain in detail all four of these momentous historical occurrences in copious detail, & this portion of 'Hell' I found almost endlessly intriguing. Another part I absolutely loved was in chapter VI, 'Women In Politics', where he speaks of Galeazzo Maria Sforza's daughter, the Madonna Caterina Sforza, & her brave defiance of her besiegers as she stood on the battlements of Forli. Sforza's son, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, would became a condottiere who died at a very young age, fighting Charles V. Signor Giovanni. We also hear the sad tale of Queen Rosamunda, wife of Alboin, King of the Longobards. In a vicious love triangle, Rosamund entices Helmechis, a nobleman serving King Alboin to murder his liege lord. After committing the vile deed Rosamund & Helmechis flee to Ravenna, where after a jealous lovers' quarrel the pair poison one another & both perish, the disgraceful death of the traitor. You can read about this melancholy chain of events in I : VIII of Machiavelli's 'Istorie Fiorentine', I'd suggest to you Laura F. Banfield & Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. translation because it's the one I'm familiar with. I also enjoyed the author's delineation in Chapter VII, 'The Point Of It All' as he speaks of social equality & the three classes of Renaissance noblemen : Landed Gentlemen, Feudal Gentlemen & Gentlemen of Affairs. Sebastian's dominant composition skills also become quite apparent as he defines key Latin terminology : Imperium is a concept associated with Dominion defined as the right, privilege or authority with which to command.
The selection of absolutely stunning Renaissance artwork, architecture & sketches included in 'Machiavelli In Hell' couldn't be more effective in its efforts to illustrate every aspect of this Machiavellian biographical masterpiece, such as Leonardo da Vinci's sketch of the grisly fate of Pazzi Conspirator Bandini de'Baroncelli, hanging from a rope outside the Captain's Palace in his Turkish garb. Baroncelli actually escaped justice at first after the murder of Giulio de'Medici, fleeing to Constantinople. Lorenzo de'Medici, who unfortunately for Baroncelli survived his assassination attempt, persuaded the Turkish Sultan to extradite the conspirator back to Florence, where he was shown no mercy by Lorenzo the Magnificent. Such is the fate of the conspirators when their schemes go awry. At the conclusion of Chapter IV, 'The Way Of Evil', De Grazia's language takes on a staccato, zealous fanaticism that's beautiful to read as he comments on the strong didactic undertones found in Niccolò Machiavelli's writing : 'The freedom to act for good or evil makes their actions liable to moral judgment, & our author does not refrain from judging them. Ingratitude, ambition, envy, greed, cruelty, mass dislocations & killings, tyranny, parricide, impiety & betrayal, & incest he recognizes for what they are : full-blown evil.'
A unique aesthetic choice, the author includes a copious section of expanded notes which unfortunately for me, are exclusively in Italian. They appear to reference 'La Mandragola' & 'La Vita Di Castruccio Castracani Da Lucca' in addition to the primary Machiavellian political canon which you probably already know, so I won't bore you by mentioning it again ! Titles I would suggest that discuss content that enriches what's found in Sebastian De Grazia's book would be the following : Allesandro Campi's 'Machiavelli & Political Conspiracies : The Struggle For Power In The Italian Renaissance' for its detailed discussion of the 'Florentine Histories' & the Pazzi Conspiracy, Professor Yves Winter's 'Machiavelli & The Orders Of Violence' for its analysis of Machiavellian political axioms in relation to the numerous acts of political violence committed during the Italian Renaissance & Late Middle Age, & Andrew Brown's translation of 'The Life Of Castruccio Castacani Of Lucca' for relevant subject matter. I'd also suggest Patrick Boucheron's 'Machiavelli : The Art Of Teaching People What To Fear' because it's so easy to jump into & can give the reader a solid foundation to begin enjoying all of Machiavelli's beautiful extant works. The Penguin Classics editions of the George Bull translation of 'The Prince' the Bernard Crick translation of 'Discourses On Livy' would be my recommendations & the De Capo Press Ellis Farneworth translation of 'The Art Of War' is what I suggest for that particular treatise.
September 24, 2023
Not quite a biography, not quite a book-length appreciation of the writing career, instead this is something of a hybrid between the two. Its great virtue is that it doesn't fall between two stools, because it is not really trying to be two things at once. In a way, this is its own genre, one made possible by a lifetime of engaged contemplation of an entire body of written work—so, not just the major political works, but the plays, the poems, the histories and the correspondence. Mastering such a massive body of writing is an achievement in itself. What de Grazia has done, however, is to distill that mastery into a roughly topical engagement with the key ideas in the political philosophy, amplified by judicious and generous reference to the entire corpus of Machiavelli's writing. What emerges is a work that feels like a annotated biographical commentary on the key ideas in the man's worldview. What's here ultimately didn't feel like a revolutionary reordering of Machiavelli studies (at least as this reader has encountered them) so much as a confirmation of some of the best thinking on Machiavelli, but deeply informed by a thorough contextual survey of the entirety of a man's available thought. It helps as well that SdG's writing style is engaging and warmly inviting. He even manifests a sense of humor. Readers looking for a chronological frog march through either the life or the major works will be disappointed. Best savored slowly.
January 10, 2024
Read this in two sessions. Part biography, part analysis of Machiavelli's political philosophy. It's a fantastic book, using only primary source material--Machiavelli's surviving letters, notes, etc. It's a dive into the man's brain, interpreting his political philosophy by examining his thoughts on many of life's big topics: religion, theism vs atheism, state, and even love. The result is a thorough and careful analysis of the man and his work. Like all of us, Machiavelli is a walking contradiction, more complicated than he initially seems. There are a few conclusions de Grazia offers that I disagree with. But as one of the most misunderstood and misquoted philosophers to have lived, this book is a refreshing and nuanced analysis of one of history's greatest thinkers.
May 20, 2024
This book's wisdom makes me think of Niccol Machiavelli's advice to the hunter to become a knower of sites by getting to know one well. It demonstrates how much political science can be learned from a single source if it is chosen and studied carefully. Political theorists and political scientists may view their scholarship as derivative and docile, but this would silence their detractors and readily defend their subject and methodology in a competition before unbiased judges to see who can teach the most about politics. Nevertheless, the themes and plots of their novels diverge.
Sebastian de Grazia has done something amazing, whether we admit it or not: he has produced a book for the general reader. His well-reasoned Pulitzer Prize-winning intellectual biography of Niccol Machiavelli
Sebastian de Grazia has done something amazing, whether we admit it or not: he has produced a book for the general reader. His well-reasoned Pulitzer Prize-winning intellectual biography of Niccol Machiavelli
May 2, 2025
This is a literary and philosophical biography of Machiavelli. The book has an engaging narrative, with a touch of humor, which makes it more interesting. But I missed out the additional, detailed information in the endnotes, about 90 pages, which are in Italian. Unfortunately, I don't read and understand Italian.
August 29, 2014
Throwing in the towel after 2 months. The content is quite interesting: the book builds up to a multi-layered, textured, very subtle exploration of Macchiavelli's political philosophy by thoroughly exploring how he felt about various concepts (love, institutional religion, God, loyalty, country, state, etc), apparent contradictions and all, using only his surviving works, letters, poems, and biographical elements. No secondary material. The reader's understanding of the man and how he conceptualized the world around him at the dawn of the modern era grows more complex with every chapter. As another review pointed out, the ideas develop and riff off each other like a symphony. Beautiful.
...but I'm type A, so I need a better understanding of where the book's going and the big picture line of argument if I'm going to be able to appreciate the subtle complexity, instead of getting lost and frustrated by it. The content is scholarly enough; there is no need for the structure to be unnecessarily obtuse as well. Reading this book is a lot like trying to hack your way through a jungle of words with a machete, because the path that the author has left for you is so overgrown as to be next to impossible to follow, and you honestly don't have a damn clue where his end point is, so you have no idea if you're even heading in the right direction. My exhaustion at trying to uncover the author's path and my frustration at not knowing where he was leading me left little energy to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings.
Maybe if I were already committed enough to the content, it would be worth the slog. As it is, I'm willing to bet that this book makes deeply satisfying read...the second time around. You know, once you've already cleared the trail and identified the major points, and can go back and appreciate all the subtle touches.
...but I'm type A, so I need a better understanding of where the book's going and the big picture line of argument if I'm going to be able to appreciate the subtle complexity, instead of getting lost and frustrated by it. The content is scholarly enough; there is no need for the structure to be unnecessarily obtuse as well. Reading this book is a lot like trying to hack your way through a jungle of words with a machete, because the path that the author has left for you is so overgrown as to be next to impossible to follow, and you honestly don't have a damn clue where his end point is, so you have no idea if you're even heading in the right direction. My exhaustion at trying to uncover the author's path and my frustration at not knowing where he was leading me left little energy to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings.
Maybe if I were already committed enough to the content, it would be worth the slog. As it is, I'm willing to bet that this book makes deeply satisfying read...the second time around. You know, once you've already cleared the trail and identified the major points, and can go back and appreciate all the subtle touches.
February 16, 2017
again, for the second time I loved this
500 yrs ago after reading the previous 1000 yrs of history
Nicolò said not much changes from time to time and place to place
The Persians The Greeks The Hebrews The Romans and "modern" man
500 yrs ago after reading the previous 1000 yrs of history
Nicolò said not much changes from time to time and place to place
The Persians The Greeks The Hebrews The Romans and "modern" man
April 5, 2015
De Grazia's command and analysis of Machiavelli's canon is impressive and interesting, but the book's nontraditional structure makes this more of a slog than it needed to be. Without any preface to outline the work, the reader needs to pay close attention to tease out the argument-- and if you find yourself bored (as I did) by a 25-page discussion of the different times the word "love" comes up in Machiavelli's work, there's no easy way to skip ahead. The nonchronological retelling of NM's life also makes its events difficult to follow if you're not familiar with them already (I was not, and still am not).
The tone and structure are much like listening to a 400-page lecture from a brilliant lecturer--it builds its arguments point by point, asking questions and then answering them, saving the biggest revelations for the end. It's quite interesting at times, but the length felt ill-suited to the structure.
The tone and structure are much like listening to a 400-page lecture from a brilliant lecturer--it builds its arguments point by point, asking questions and then answering them, saving the biggest revelations for the end. It's quite interesting at times, but the length felt ill-suited to the structure.
April 2, 2013
Holy crap. I've BEEN currently reading this book for probably a year now. I expect to be currently-reading it for the next year, and that might be overly optimistic. I may never actually finish it.
It's well written, exhaustively researched - the exhaustively-researched bit might be the problem. Perhaps it's more of a reference book than a reading book.
So how to rate it? Well, as a reference book it is AWEsome. As light reading, it's killing me.
So, a three.
Update: i finally gave up and shelved it, in the case that I actually need it as a reference book. Egad.
It's well written, exhaustively researched - the exhaustively-researched bit might be the problem. Perhaps it's more of a reference book than a reading book.
So how to rate it? Well, as a reference book it is AWEsome. As light reading, it's killing me.
So, a three.
Update: i finally gave up and shelved it, in the case that I actually need it as a reference book. Egad.
May 25, 2012
Great idea, such poor delivery. Could it be the worse book I ever finished? What a sleeper! At first I thought it could have been the translator, but soon I realized that it had to be the author. De Grazia takes various subjects which Machiavelli wrote about and regurgitates what was already said. Blah, blah, blah . . . . . . boring, blah, blah, blah. Shades of the arrogant Harold Bloom. The title of the books is Machiavelli in Hell, but the author uses Machiavelli to put the reader in Hell. I hope De Gracia's fate is to spent eternity reading this book.
January 24, 2009
One of the most difficult to read books I have ever read! I can not recall reading a political science textbook that was more complicated than this one. The choice of words is extremely intellectual. At times, it was difficult to follow the point that DeGrazia was trying to make. However, the descriptions of Machiavelli's concepts of a republican state were extremely interesting to me. I would recommend this book only to the most serious student of political science.
Read
January 2, 2015Not at all what I hoped for. I wanted context for Machiavelli's writings--I wanted to know about all the goings-on in Florence and Rome and who these French kings were who kept invading. While I do get some of that, I mostly get synopses of Machiavelli's work. When I put down this book and started reading The Art of War, I was a much happier reader.
March 11, 2011
Erudite and racy, this biographical study of Machiavelli is a sound study into the genesis of Machiavellian political thought. A must for anyone interested in renaissance Italy, or political history in general.
Read
November 1, 2010I read this over 10 years ago, decided to re-read it now while I find new books to read.
August 24, 2013
Needed more background before I read book
January 16, 2023
Brilliantly incisive intellectual biography of the Florentine Secretary that places his writings in the context of when and where he lived. Machiavelli comes acreoss as very human and even likeable.
Read
March 4, 2011A little boring but interesting nonetheless.
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