The Well-Educated Mind Histories discussion

It's May 1, 2018. It's a great day to begin The Prince by Machiavelli. It's a short one, so anyone who starts now should be done before the end of May. Then we can meet back here to share ideas.

I've never read this before, but I highly anticipate what it has to say b/c it is so ingrained in Western history and government. So, we'll see...

Anyone reading it for the first time? Anyone rereading it?

It is a quick read, but 'unpacking' it could take a lifetime.

I had a book club discussion of it a few years ago, but I did not read it to the end (short as it is).

Christopher wrote: "It is a quick read, but 'unpacking' it could take a lifetime.

Oh, that's always an issue. I wonder if you could find it online? That is, if you don't mind reading it that way.

Great Book Study wrote: "Christopher wrote: "It is a quick read, but 'unpacking' it could take a lifetime.

Oh, that's always an issue. I wonder if you could find it online? That is, if you don't mind reading it that way."

I have the Kindle edition of the Harvey Mansfield translation:

The Prince

(which attempts to be strictly literal with such key and ambiguous concepts as 'virtue,' and 'orders,'-- can't think of all of M.'s key terms right now)

Great! I'll start this soon. I've read it before and I still have my copy. I don't know how it compares to other translations, but my edition says it's a translation by N.H. Thompson, published 1910.

I'll be reading a George Bull translation (1961).

I will be reading the C.E. Detmold translation (1997). It is my copy from University, margin notes and all.

Hi, Well,
Thanks for joining us. So this is a reread for you?

Yes, it is a reread. But several years have passed, and I am sure it will be a whole new experience.