Machiavelli's The Prince

by Stacy Magedanz

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on The Prince, you explore the Italian Renaissance in Florence in the late 1400s and early 1500s, during which Machiavelli was a statesman who took a special interest in observing the distinct intelligence that made certain rulers successful. In a nutshell, The Prince is an analysis of how to acquire and maintain political power. It remains one of the definitive statements of power and control and is based on what Machiavelli saw, not what he felt or imagined. This study guide carefully walks you through The Prince by providing summaries and critical analyses of each chapter of the book. You'll also explore the life and background of the author. Other features that help you study include Classic literature or modern-day treasure—you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

97 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 1999

About the author

Librarian at John M. Pfau Library, California State University San Bernardino.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book some years ago, when I was teaching Machiavelli in Western Civ courses as a T.A. I didn’t buy it for myself, exactly, I bought it thinking that I’d be able to tell the students who hadn’t done the reading, but had relied solely on the Cliff’s Notes.

Well, the joke was on me, but also on any student who tried to do that, because there may be more reading in this version than there would be in the original text. It also doesn’t offer particularly profound insights – pretty much anything you get here can be gleaned from the introduction and notes in any version of the book that we ever assigned. Cliff’s Notes also may add some confusion by treating “The Prince” as if it were a literature text: it refers to the book as “a novel” and speaks of “character analysis” and so on.

In all, there’s nothing really wrong with this book, but you’d do better to seek out a good translation of the book if you really want to learn anything about it.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought Machiavelli was pretty straightforward, and he is. But this book by Stacy Magedanz share's additional insight. Very good!