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  • Published: 19 August 2008
  • ISBN: 9780451531001
  • Imprint: Signet
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $16.99

The Prince




A refreshingly accessible new translation of this timely and dynamic classic work about the corrupting effects of power

Witty, informative, and devilishly shrewd, The Prince is Machiavelli's classic analysis of statesmanship and power.

“It is best to be both feared and loved, however, if one cannot be both, it is better to be feared than loved.”—Machiavelli

For over four hundred years, The Prince has been the basic handbook of politics, statesmanship, and power. Written by a Florentine nobleman whose name has become a synonym for crafty plotting, it is a fascinating political and social document, as pertinent today as when it first appeared. After a lifetime of winning and losing at the game of politics, Machiavelli set down for all time its ageless rules and moves, in this highly readable formula for the man who seeks power. At a time before modern democracy, Machiavelli was less concerned with right and wrong than with currying favor with the ruling Medicis, and his work came to be thought of as a blueprint for dictators.

The Prince has long been required reading for those interested in politics and power, and it has long since become one of the world's most significant books.

With an Afterword by Regina Barreca 

  • Published: 19 August 2008
  • ISBN: 9780451531001
  • Imprint: Signet
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $16.99

Other books in the series

On Sparta
Love
Annals
Military Dispatches

About the author

Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence. He served the Florentine Republic as a secretary and second chancellor, but was expelled from public life when the Medici family returned to power in 1512. His most famous work, The Prince, was written in an attempt to gain favour with the Medicis and return to politics.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a Florentine statesman who was later forced out of public life. He then devoted himself to studying and writing political philosophy, history, fiction, and drama.

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