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The Life of Castruccio Castracani
Set amid the ferment and factionalism of early modern Italy, Life of Castruccio Castracani is a vivid and action-packed account of the rise and fall of a very "Machiavellian" prince. A charismatic warlord of the early 14th century, Castruccio Castracani came from humble beginnings as a foundling, and ended his life as ruler of Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, and Florence. In this Life, Machiavelli extols Castracani for his acute understanding of the politics of warfare and statecraft, and while sparing no detail of his shrewd and often bloody tactics, he overturns our moral prejudice, depicting Castracani as a popular unifying force. Life of Castruccio Castracani is accompanied by selected passages from Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories to give a powerful, rounded portrait of the abandoned child who rose to become the most powerful man in Tuscany. Niccolò Machiavelli was a prominent Florentine politician and writer, whose greatest work, The Prince, has ensured his lasting fame.
58 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1520
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About the author
Niccolò Machiavelli
2,141 books4,975 followers
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%...
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%...
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 7, 2020
Read in the Bondanella/Musa translation in The Portable Machiavelli.
The early part of this semi-fictionalised account of a 13th-14th century soldier and leader of Lucca - detailing the superlative natural talents and early life of its dashing hero - reminded me of jingoistic Victorian and Edwardian boys' stories about Great Men of the British Empire. Those were, no doubt - just like this - influenced by Plutarch's Lives, which I haven't read. (Though if I had a pound for every time I'd seen them mentioned in the introduction or notes to another classic work....)
Then we get into something much more similar to The Prince, sequences of military adventures, strokes of luck, good or bad, and dastardly plots. (Including murdering someone at a banquet, because stories from the Classical world and Renaissance Italy usually involve that sooner or later.) Some detailed battle scenes liven it up somewhat - although the troops could really be robots - but a lot of this sort of thing, like the political manoeuvring, IMO would be more exciting in film form than on the page.
It's back to the paeans to the Great Man as he dies. (It's interesting that he had assumed he would live consierably longer than to 44 - his age at death in this account. Death at that sort of age looks from our perspective like a common part of medieval life one might assume a person would reasonably expect.) Then there are pages of anecdotes about occasions when Castruccio Castracani said something witty or aphoristic. Along with the battles, this I found the most involving part of the story. (Unlike much of the rest, it doesn't necessitate visualising maps and diagrams of troop movements.) Those well-versed in Classical literature may be able to detect sources here.
The story highlights certain categories and pieces of advice from The Prince, such as the importance of Machiavelli's preoccupation with Fortune, and of how it is better for a prince to have the support of the people than of the nobility, if one can't have both. A more pro-social lesson implicit here is the importance of a loyal and competent 2i/c, which Machiavelli's version of Castruccio Castracani has in his late mentor's son, whom he had, to all intents and purposes, adopted.
As in The Prince, "the people" are quite often mentioned, but they are usually a sort of lumpenproletariat, a faceless mass that assists or hampers regime change, only occasionally displaying a sense of their own interests, whilst the guys at the top are the stars of the show. I would love to know - and it's largely unknowable unless someone invents a kind of time travelling opinion polling - if medieval and early modern people really did have such fondness for various despots, as described in works like this, for being a bit nicer to them than the previous lot - and to what extent some quietly dissented.
One paragraph among the aphoristic addenda - about a man who, when he was a beautiful boy, had stolen husbands from wives, and now as a handsome man steals wives from husbands - seems to confirm a kind of sexuality life-cycle for upper class men in Renaissance Tuscany - surprisingly, rather similar to the Greeks and Roman world - of romantic and sexual relations in youth more with boys and men, and later on with women, indicated in the early chapters of a new biography, Machiavelli: His Life and Times.
The morals and virtues of this piece are very much Classical; there is little in it that's Christian, after Castruccio rejects his clergyman adoptive father and his own reluctant attempt to study for the priesthood. You wouldn't think all the action was happening in a world so pervaded by Christianity as medieval Europe. Its absence shows, with Machiavelli's telling-it-like-it-is honesty about such things, that military leaders of the time behaved in a way that rejected Christian norms, as if in a parallel world to the church, as well as the humanist leanings towards Classical pagan values which were part of the author's education and psyche.
7 May 2020
The early part of this semi-fictionalised account of a 13th-14th century soldier and leader of Lucca - detailing the superlative natural talents and early life of its dashing hero - reminded me of jingoistic Victorian and Edwardian boys' stories about Great Men of the British Empire. Those were, no doubt - just like this - influenced by Plutarch's Lives, which I haven't read. (Though if I had a pound for every time I'd seen them mentioned in the introduction or notes to another classic work....)
Then we get into something much more similar to The Prince, sequences of military adventures, strokes of luck, good or bad, and dastardly plots. (Including murdering someone at a banquet, because stories from the Classical world and Renaissance Italy usually involve that sooner or later.) Some detailed battle scenes liven it up somewhat - although the troops could really be robots - but a lot of this sort of thing, like the political manoeuvring, IMO would be more exciting in film form than on the page.
It's back to the paeans to the Great Man as he dies. (It's interesting that he had assumed he would live consierably longer than to 44 - his age at death in this account. Death at that sort of age looks from our perspective like a common part of medieval life one might assume a person would reasonably expect.) Then there are pages of anecdotes about occasions when Castruccio Castracani said something witty or aphoristic. Along with the battles, this I found the most involving part of the story. (Unlike much of the rest, it doesn't necessitate visualising maps and diagrams of troop movements.) Those well-versed in Classical literature may be able to detect sources here.
The story highlights certain categories and pieces of advice from The Prince, such as the importance of Machiavelli's preoccupation with Fortune, and of how it is better for a prince to have the support of the people than of the nobility, if one can't have both. A more pro-social lesson implicit here is the importance of a loyal and competent 2i/c, which Machiavelli's version of Castruccio Castracani has in his late mentor's son, whom he had, to all intents and purposes, adopted.
As in The Prince, "the people" are quite often mentioned, but they are usually a sort of lumpenproletariat, a faceless mass that assists or hampers regime change, only occasionally displaying a sense of their own interests, whilst the guys at the top are the stars of the show. I would love to know - and it's largely unknowable unless someone invents a kind of time travelling opinion polling - if medieval and early modern people really did have such fondness for various despots, as described in works like this, for being a bit nicer to them than the previous lot - and to what extent some quietly dissented.
One paragraph among the aphoristic addenda - about a man who, when he was a beautiful boy, had stolen husbands from wives, and now as a handsome man steals wives from husbands - seems to confirm a kind of sexuality life-cycle for upper class men in Renaissance Tuscany - surprisingly, rather similar to the Greeks and Roman world - of romantic and sexual relations in youth more with boys and men, and later on with women, indicated in the early chapters of a new biography, Machiavelli: His Life and Times.
The morals and virtues of this piece are very much Classical; there is little in it that's Christian, after Castruccio rejects his clergyman adoptive father and his own reluctant attempt to study for the priesthood. You wouldn't think all the action was happening in a world so pervaded by Christianity as medieval Europe. Its absence shows, with Machiavelli's telling-it-like-it-is honesty about such things, that military leaders of the time behaved in a way that rejected Christian norms, as if in a parallel world to the church, as well as the humanist leanings towards Classical pagan values which were part of the author's education and psyche.
7 May 2020
November 10, 2023
Castracani was a condottieri, a ruler of Lucca, early 15th century, fought the hegemony of Florence over Tuscany and almost broke it. Mix of facts and fiction, in imitation of Plutarch. In fact more a treatise on fate. Story of tricks and warrior actions, in chronological order.
July 18, 2021
Denna historia om en legoknektsfurste må vara sedd som inspirerad fiktion av de flesta moderna tänkare, men den är icke desto mindre en utmärkt inblick i det laglösa medeltidsitalien. Jag är djupt imponerad. Därtill är boken intressant eftersom den, till skillnad från fursten, faktiskt uppvisar den typ av "starkes rätt"-moral som Machiavelli ofta anklagas för att ha förespråkat.
April 28, 2025
Incredibly interesting read. Didn't take too long and kept me entertained. I really enjoyed the strategies he used in war against the Florentines. The description of the tactics really put me in the war room. Also, the ending quotes about Castracani's wit were entertaining nonetheless.
October 11, 2022
A nicely done translation that flows well. Machiavelli is Machiavelli, so obviously a solid source, but this is a coherent biography of a renaissance warrior.
December 22, 2017
The ruler of Lucca at the time, this is more of an essay of another “Prince” at a fragile time in Italian politics. It almost felt like an obituary or short biography.
December 21, 2017
The Life of Castruccio Castracani seems like an elaboration of the last chapter of The Prince proper (chapter 25), in which Machiavelli discusses fortune and its role in one’s life. This is how he describes it:
It’s like one of those raging rivers that sometimes rise and flood the plain, tearing down trees and buildings, dragging soil from one place and dumping it down in another. Everybody runs for safety, no one can resist the rush, there’s no way you can stop it. Still, the fact that a river is like this doesn’t prevent us from preparing for trouble when levels are low, building banks and dykes, so that when the water rises the next time it can be contained in a single channel and the rush of the river in flood is not so uncontrolled and destructive.
For the better part of the book the narrative follows the life of Castruccio Castracani, a child who possessed virtù and became a man of exceptional abilities. Virtù, as Machiavelli envisaged it, is a quality of character that enables one to achieve power and be able to hold on to it, with disregard for moral virtues. Leading a bold and successful life, Castracani was on his way of uniting Tuscany under his rule until Fortune turned her back on him at a crucial time in war.
The most meaningful part of the story begins when Castracani, on his deathbed, summons his foster-brother Pagolo Guinigi and tells him of Fortune, and how Pagolo should rule after his death. The book follows up with the description of Castracani’s character and an account of his unusual sayings.
Tl;dr: an extension of The Prince with focus on Fortune, nested in a partly fictitious biography.
It’s like one of those raging rivers that sometimes rise and flood the plain, tearing down trees and buildings, dragging soil from one place and dumping it down in another. Everybody runs for safety, no one can resist the rush, there’s no way you can stop it. Still, the fact that a river is like this doesn’t prevent us from preparing for trouble when levels are low, building banks and dykes, so that when the water rises the next time it can be contained in a single channel and the rush of the river in flood is not so uncontrolled and destructive.
For the better part of the book the narrative follows the life of Castruccio Castracani, a child who possessed virtù and became a man of exceptional abilities. Virtù, as Machiavelli envisaged it, is a quality of character that enables one to achieve power and be able to hold on to it, with disregard for moral virtues. Leading a bold and successful life, Castracani was on his way of uniting Tuscany under his rule until Fortune turned her back on him at a crucial time in war.
The most meaningful part of the story begins when Castracani, on his deathbed, summons his foster-brother Pagolo Guinigi and tells him of Fortune, and how Pagolo should rule after his death. The book follows up with the description of Castracani’s character and an account of his unusual sayings.
Tl;dr: an extension of The Prince with focus on Fortune, nested in a partly fictitious biography.
November 18, 2013
Better than Duke Valentino. Machiavelli admires Castruccio whereas he was only using Valentino to explain a point. Castruccio himself is very intriguing or at least the way in which Machiavelli presents him. In Machiavelli's mind he is better than Ceasar and Alexander the Great put together. His only flaw was being born in the wrong year and at the wrong place. Perhaps, Machiavelli's resentment towards fortune comes from the untimely death of Castruccio by illness. That bit at the end, where he notes examples of how Castruccio acted, is majestic. If you dislike long texts, at least give the bit at the end a small read. It will give you an understanding of what qualities Machiavelli saw in Cartuccio that he deemed admirable. I believe it to be a reflection of Machiavelli's ideals.
November 18, 2017
[Also included is a review on the Prince, the two were combined in my copy]
The Prince is an important book, but it has been overshadowed by many of the texts that followed. The very name of its author, Niccolo Machiavelli, has become something of a byword for manipulation and realpolitik. Having read the book from start to finish this is not entirely undeserved, but it is not nearly as morally corrupt as I thought it would be. The snipets and quotes I read in the past appear to be the worst of the corrupt morality of statecraft. Most of which has been internalized, adapted, and updated by a number of different schools in political science. A decent chunk of it informs the international relations paradigm of Realism, and so I have been, perhaps, overexposed to the state morality and logic overshadowing and overruling the morality of mankind.
Attached at the end of the audiobook was the Life of Castruccio Castracani, and I have to say I was considerably more interested in the (most likely partially fictionalized) narrative portrayed. That was actually a very decent, and quite fast, read. About an hour, actually - while the Prince is maybe 3. I understand why it was included to, for while Cesare Borgia was understood as the model prince in recent memory, Castruccio's life also lent itself to the lessons of his work.
Passing judgment on Machiavelli has been in vogue for half a millennium now, and I see no need to tell you whether or not I believe him to be a wicked man or a man who provides sound advice to ensure to the survival of the state. Perhaps it is both, perhaps it is neither. For such a quick read, I am amazed that I never actually did so in the past. I recommend that you take a look at it yourself, and decide whether or not you are capable of passing your own judgment.
Score?
The Life of Castruccio Castracani
87/100 | B+
The Prince
90/100 | A-
In a vacuum the score is highly inflated, but in the context of human thought and political science it may appear underappreciated. This score represents an unhappy medium, while the Life of Castruccio Castracani represents only itself, and thus may actually be the more praiseworthy for it.
The Prince is an important book, but it has been overshadowed by many of the texts that followed. The very name of its author, Niccolo Machiavelli, has become something of a byword for manipulation and realpolitik. Having read the book from start to finish this is not entirely undeserved, but it is not nearly as morally corrupt as I thought it would be. The snipets and quotes I read in the past appear to be the worst of the corrupt morality of statecraft. Most of which has been internalized, adapted, and updated by a number of different schools in political science. A decent chunk of it informs the international relations paradigm of Realism, and so I have been, perhaps, overexposed to the state morality and logic overshadowing and overruling the morality of mankind.
Attached at the end of the audiobook was the Life of Castruccio Castracani, and I have to say I was considerably more interested in the (most likely partially fictionalized) narrative portrayed. That was actually a very decent, and quite fast, read. About an hour, actually - while the Prince is maybe 3. I understand why it was included to, for while Cesare Borgia was understood as the model prince in recent memory, Castruccio's life also lent itself to the lessons of his work.
Passing judgment on Machiavelli has been in vogue for half a millennium now, and I see no need to tell you whether or not I believe him to be a wicked man or a man who provides sound advice to ensure to the survival of the state. Perhaps it is both, perhaps it is neither. For such a quick read, I am amazed that I never actually did so in the past. I recommend that you take a look at it yourself, and decide whether or not you are capable of passing your own judgment.
Score?
The Life of Castruccio Castracani
87/100 | B+
The Prince
90/100 | A-
In a vacuum the score is highly inflated, but in the context of human thought and political science it may appear underappreciated. This score represents an unhappy medium, while the Life of Castruccio Castracani represents only itself, and thus may actually be the more praiseworthy for it.
October 23, 2025
Niccolo Machiavelli's Fictionalized Biography Chronicles The Life & Times Of The Tuscan Condottiere, Castruccio Castracani Of Lucca.
Niccolò Machiavelli devoted his life to furthering the interests of his native Florence, first as a member of Gonfalonier Piero Soderini's fledgling republican government as secretary to the second chancery, & then when he organized, trained & led the Florentine citizens' army, the Nove di Milizia, on a series of successful campaigns which included the conquest of Florence's rival city, the Republic of Pisa.
Following the Medici's reinstatement as de facto rulers of Florence, Niccolò was implicated in a conspiracy that supposedly targeted their high-ranking members & was subsequently exiled from politics. He turned to political writings in an effort to regain his lost status, beginning in 1513 with his treatise on autocratic rule, The Prince, followed by his sophomore effort which was composed from 1517-1519, the Discourses on Livy, a commentary on effective methods of republican government which utilizes the first ten books of Titus Livy's History of Rome from its Foundations. Both of these treatises were written in different prose styles & they each favor a particular form of rule, & they utilize political & military examples taken from classical Roman history tempered with contemporary examples from his own time.
His writing turned to Renaissance warcraft & strategy when from 1519-1520 he completed work on his military treatise, The Art of War, which was published the next year, & remains the only of his works published during his lifetime. He composed his Florentine Histories for Pope Clement VII after years of exile, following the restoration of the Medici to power after Soderini was deposed in 1512.
Niccolò's obscure, dramatized biography, The Life of Castruccio Castracani is written about a Tuscan condottiere from Lucca, an Italian city-state that had been a bitter rival of Machiavelli's own Florence in the waning, final period of the Italian medieval age. According to Wikipedia, he is believed to have composed it in 1520 during a visit to Lucca.
This edition of The Life of Castruccio Castracani is published by Alma Books, & features translation work by Andrew Brown. Brown also composed the introduction, which is very informative & provides insight on Machiavelli's writing style & sentence structure, also discussing Niccolò's interpretations for terms such as virtù & fortuna. After the Life of Castracani, there are two short excerpts from Niccolò's Florentine Histories which mention the Lucchese warlord in his accounting, sections FH II 26-II 27, & FH II 29- II 31. As entertaining & well-written as Niccolò's biography is, much of it is fictitious. The only English study on the life of the actual Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli is Louis Green's 1986 monograph, which features an accurate account of the warlord's life & reign in Lucca, as well as his history with other condottieres such as Uguccione della Faggiuola.
Despite the modifications made for artistic effect, the story he tells is nonetheless compelling, & the manner in which his prose enhances the biography's dramatic effect is considerable. Castracani's is the tale of a lowly foundling, fostered by a Lucchese priest, from a family of noble lineage & his widowed, childless sister. The boy proves to be quick witted, intelligent & charismatic. Castruccio soon becomes restless, & he desires education in subjects which a priest is unable to provide instruction. Eventually, he would catch the interest of the Messer Francesco Guingini, a Lucchese nobleman of the Ghibelline faction in the service of the powerful Visconti of Milan. The narrative Machiavelli weaves for the reader is a beautiful tapestry of pride, ambition, & betrayal, which, despite its mostly fictitious chronicle of events, is actually quite entertaining.
As always, there are aspects to being in a powerful position during that era which were unpleasant, & the ambitious Castruccio achieves such renown that he garners the jealousy of the Poggio family, the most powerful family in Lucca & the clan responsible for Castracani's rapid advancement. They conspire to remove the prince from power, but he has gained such popularity that in order to do so the envious Poggios are themselves taking a calculated risk. Their adopted son has become enamored by people outside the family's influence, some more powerful, others, just honest citizens. One of the elder Poggio, Stefano, seeks Castruccio & "begged him, not on his own account (since he felt he had no need to), but on behalf of others in his family, to make allowances for them on behalf of their youth," in the matter of their conspiracy against him, & the prince "..replied gracefully, telling him to take heart & not be afraid,". Then, the prince requests that Stefano visit him with the other Poggios, ostensibly to heal the rift which had been growing between them. Anyone who has experienced Mario Puzo's The Godfather in some form can no doubt guess what happens next.
The Life of Castruccio Castracani is by no means a long read; it can be finished in a single day, & this edition comes in a handy, condensed size that doesn't take up too much space. No prior experience with Machiavelli's work is necessary to enjoy the book, & for readers who would enjoy a biography composed in a similar format, the Penguin Classics edition of Robert Graves' translation of Caius Suetonius Tranquillus's Lives of the Twelve Caesars, or Anthony Birley's Penguin Classics translation of Lives of the Later Caesars are good places to start. Castracani's Life is composed in a manner somewhat similar to the biographical format found in these works. Thank you so very much for reading, I hope that you enjoyed the review!
Niccolò Machiavelli devoted his life to furthering the interests of his native Florence, first as a member of Gonfalonier Piero Soderini's fledgling republican government as secretary to the second chancery, & then when he organized, trained & led the Florentine citizens' army, the Nove di Milizia, on a series of successful campaigns which included the conquest of Florence's rival city, the Republic of Pisa.
Following the Medici's reinstatement as de facto rulers of Florence, Niccolò was implicated in a conspiracy that supposedly targeted their high-ranking members & was subsequently exiled from politics. He turned to political writings in an effort to regain his lost status, beginning in 1513 with his treatise on autocratic rule, The Prince, followed by his sophomore effort which was composed from 1517-1519, the Discourses on Livy, a commentary on effective methods of republican government which utilizes the first ten books of Titus Livy's History of Rome from its Foundations. Both of these treatises were written in different prose styles & they each favor a particular form of rule, & they utilize political & military examples taken from classical Roman history tempered with contemporary examples from his own time.
His writing turned to Renaissance warcraft & strategy when from 1519-1520 he completed work on his military treatise, The Art of War, which was published the next year, & remains the only of his works published during his lifetime. He composed his Florentine Histories for Pope Clement VII after years of exile, following the restoration of the Medici to power after Soderini was deposed in 1512.
Niccolò's obscure, dramatized biography, The Life of Castruccio Castracani is written about a Tuscan condottiere from Lucca, an Italian city-state that had been a bitter rival of Machiavelli's own Florence in the waning, final period of the Italian medieval age. According to Wikipedia, he is believed to have composed it in 1520 during a visit to Lucca.
This edition of The Life of Castruccio Castracani is published by Alma Books, & features translation work by Andrew Brown. Brown also composed the introduction, which is very informative & provides insight on Machiavelli's writing style & sentence structure, also discussing Niccolò's interpretations for terms such as virtù & fortuna. After the Life of Castracani, there are two short excerpts from Niccolò's Florentine Histories which mention the Lucchese warlord in his accounting, sections FH II 26-II 27, & FH II 29- II 31. As entertaining & well-written as Niccolò's biography is, much of it is fictitious. The only English study on the life of the actual Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli is Louis Green's 1986 monograph, which features an accurate account of the warlord's life & reign in Lucca, as well as his history with other condottieres such as Uguccione della Faggiuola.
Despite the modifications made for artistic effect, the story he tells is nonetheless compelling, & the manner in which his prose enhances the biography's dramatic effect is considerable. Castracani's is the tale of a lowly foundling, fostered by a Lucchese priest, from a family of noble lineage & his widowed, childless sister. The boy proves to be quick witted, intelligent & charismatic. Castruccio soon becomes restless, & he desires education in subjects which a priest is unable to provide instruction. Eventually, he would catch the interest of the Messer Francesco Guingini, a Lucchese nobleman of the Ghibelline faction in the service of the powerful Visconti of Milan. The narrative Machiavelli weaves for the reader is a beautiful tapestry of pride, ambition, & betrayal, which, despite its mostly fictitious chronicle of events, is actually quite entertaining.
As always, there are aspects to being in a powerful position during that era which were unpleasant, & the ambitious Castruccio achieves such renown that he garners the jealousy of the Poggio family, the most powerful family in Lucca & the clan responsible for Castracani's rapid advancement. They conspire to remove the prince from power, but he has gained such popularity that in order to do so the envious Poggios are themselves taking a calculated risk. Their adopted son has become enamored by people outside the family's influence, some more powerful, others, just honest citizens. One of the elder Poggio, Stefano, seeks Castruccio & "begged him, not on his own account (since he felt he had no need to), but on behalf of others in his family, to make allowances for them on behalf of their youth," in the matter of their conspiracy against him, & the prince "..replied gracefully, telling him to take heart & not be afraid,". Then, the prince requests that Stefano visit him with the other Poggios, ostensibly to heal the rift which had been growing between them. Anyone who has experienced Mario Puzo's The Godfather in some form can no doubt guess what happens next.
The Life of Castruccio Castracani is by no means a long read; it can be finished in a single day, & this edition comes in a handy, condensed size that doesn't take up too much space. No prior experience with Machiavelli's work is necessary to enjoy the book, & for readers who would enjoy a biography composed in a similar format, the Penguin Classics edition of Robert Graves' translation of Caius Suetonius Tranquillus's Lives of the Twelve Caesars, or Anthony Birley's Penguin Classics translation of Lives of the Later Caesars are good places to start. Castracani's Life is composed in a manner somewhat similar to the biographical format found in these works. Thank you so very much for reading, I hope that you enjoyed the review!
February 19, 2018
A great historical overview filled with a treasure trove of information.
Read for personal research. Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
"... Castruccio passed from the house of Messer Antonio the priest to the house of Messer Francesco Guinigi the soldier, and it was astonishing to find that in a very short time he manifested all that virtue and bearing which we are accustomed to associate with a true gentleman."
"He was once asked in what manner he would wish to be buried when he died, and answered: 'With the face turned downwards, for I know when I am gone this country will be turned upside down.'"
Read for personal research. Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
"... Castruccio passed from the house of Messer Antonio the priest to the house of Messer Francesco Guinigi the soldier, and it was astonishing to find that in a very short time he manifested all that virtue and bearing which we are accustomed to associate with a true gentleman."
"He was once asked in what manner he would wish to be buried when he died, and answered: 'With the face turned downwards, for I know when I am gone this country will be turned upside down.'"
September 5, 2024
ME ENCANTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Ok, calma.
En este breve libro, Machiavelli relata la vida y hazañas del líder militar italiano Castruccio Castracani. Este mismo ofrece una visión detallada de la estrategia, el liderazgo político y los desafíos enfrentados en su búsqueda de poder y dominio.
Al igual que en "El Príncipe", Machiavelli presenta un retrato realista y sin adornos sobre el poder político, que me tuvo en la punta de la silla de comienzo a fin.
La historia es épica y heroica, es exactamente lo que esperaba encontrar en "El Poema del mio Cid" ("...que a buena hora alzaste la espada y..." vaya chasco!) y me dejo recargado con ganas de salir a tomar fortalezas.
Muy recomendable.
Ok, calma.
En este breve libro, Machiavelli relata la vida y hazañas del líder militar italiano Castruccio Castracani. Este mismo ofrece una visión detallada de la estrategia, el liderazgo político y los desafíos enfrentados en su búsqueda de poder y dominio.
Al igual que en "El Príncipe", Machiavelli presenta un retrato realista y sin adornos sobre el poder político, que me tuvo en la punta de la silla de comienzo a fin.
La historia es épica y heroica, es exactamente lo que esperaba encontrar en "El Poema del mio Cid" ("...que a buena hora alzaste la espada y..." vaya chasco!) y me dejo recargado con ganas de salir a tomar fortalezas.
Muy recomendable.
September 30, 2024
Man kan säga att berättelsen om Castruccio Castracani är ungefär som en av lärdomarna från fursten. Men istället för att illustrera olika furstliga egenskaper genom exempel så har Machiavelli här exemplifierat sina ideal genom Castracanis biografi. Dock, som översättaren påpekar, så har Machiavelli pyntat Castracani med förutsättningar och visheter som inte var hans utan lånade från andra platser i historien.
Medan fursten kanske mer teoretiserar kring idealen hos en furste så visat Machiavelli i Castracani en faktiskt furste - även om han inte är den exakta idénässiga avbildningen av en furste så som Machiavelli beskriver den. Dvs att Castracani i sin helhet fyller upp tillräckligt många vilkor för att i sin helhet vara en furste genom sitt liv.
Medan fursten kanske mer teoretiserar kring idealen hos en furste så visat Machiavelli i Castracani en faktiskt furste - även om han inte är den exakta idénässiga avbildningen av en furste så som Machiavelli beskriver den. Dvs att Castracani i sin helhet fyller upp tillräckligt många vilkor för att i sin helhet vara en furste genom sitt liv.
March 2, 2021
I've come to enjoy Machiavelli's writing even if it is of a topic I haven't much interest. That being said I loved at the end of this little biography how there was a list of Castruccio's quotes. It made him seem like a very real human to me, and Castruccio was very funny.
October 29, 2025
Some quite important things that I picked up, again the narrative that it is 50% fortune and 50% preparedness. My favorite idea of his is to know yourself is the key to power and playing to your own strengths as a leader.
June 4, 2016
This came with my copy of "The Prince". Parts of this little biography come across like Nick is fanboying. You can tell thought this guy was da-most-awsomest politico-historical figure.
Of course he also works in references to his own political theories: as to what extent one's fate in life can be controlled.
My favorite part was when (spoiler alert) Castruccio finds out he's going to die and calls in his heir and has a little heart-to-heart about ambition and the legacy he wanted to leave behind.
Of course he also works in references to his own political theories: as to what extent one's fate in life can be controlled.
My favorite part was when (spoiler alert) Castruccio finds out he's going to die and calls in his heir and has a little heart-to-heart about ambition and the legacy he wanted to leave behind.
January 6, 2009
Interesting biography of a man who was born someone insignificant and achieved greatness through virtú (virtue), skill and cunning. Although some historical facts are incorrect, there are a lot of real facts and happenings from history. It is clear that Machiavelli is celebrating Castracani's life and suggesting that new princes follow his lead.
January 28, 2016
Questa "vita" può essere facilmente paragonata a quelle del Plutarco; trovo stupendo soprattutto come la finalità pedagogica rimanga, seppur trasposta da una ottica idealistica ad una cinica e pragmatica.
July 25, 2011
I read this in finnish translation. Short book and worth reading.
October 13, 2014
Interesting book.
June 8, 2018
This was hilarious
October 12, 2016
espetable vida del Condotiero de Lucca , Una figura importantisima de Italia.
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