Machiavelli’s highly influential treatise on political power
'It is far safer to be feared than loved...'
The Prince shocked Europe on publication with its advocacy of ruthless tactics for gaining absolute power and its abandonment of conventional morality. Niccoló Machiavelli drew on his own experience of office under the turbulent Florentine republic, rejecting traditional values of political theory and recognising the complicated, transient nature of political life. Machiavelli made his name notorious for centuries with The Prince, his clever and cynical work about power relationships. The key themes of this influential, and ever timely, writer are that adaptability is the key to success and that effective leadership is sometimes only possible at the expense of moral standards.
'Everyone should have a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince, whose original purpose may have been to counsel Renaissance rulers in the art of statecraft but is still applicable to and, indeed, acted on by modern politicians and power-brokers' Guardian
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780099518495
Number of pages: 112
Weight: 88 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 7 mm
If one were to assign a single edition of Machiavelli's works, this most certainly would be it - John. P. McCormick, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
Everyone should have a copy of Machiavelli's The Prince, whose original purpose may have been to counsel Renaissance rulers in the art of statecraft but is still applicable to and, indeed, acted on by modern politicians and power-brokers - Guardian
A 16th Century handbook of wily political thinking that tells you how to get the upper hand in every conceivable situation - Mail on Sunday
How amazing, that anyone's ideas should be controversial after five centuries. Machiavelli expressed a certain attitude to power - it's a good thing, and the problem is how to get and keep it - so well that he has never become out dated - Guardian
One of most influential books ever - Mirror
Machiavelli was not an evil genius, or a fiend, or a miserable coward of a writer; he is nothing but fact. And not just Italian fact, but European fact, sixteenth-century fact. - Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
The beauty in this work is the seeming simplicity behind the logic that Nicollo argues with. Whilst the book is short the ponderings are heavy and some chapters very short indeed. I found that this is a book that you... More
An important, albeit controversial, work that still holds popular appeal today. The book's concern is an individual's rise to power; a formidable discourse, explaining that abandoning one's morals and... More
the prince is a brilliant book for dictators or sectarian governments. As most of the ideas focus on keeping princes in powe. But there are a lot more than preserving power especially in the era of modern time where... More
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