The Prince | Niccolò Machiavelli

A brilliant book which teaches us how a prince should or anyone else should behave. Very insightful and a classic piece of work that has more than stood the test of time, as relevant today as the day it was written.

This is a must-have book in everyone's collect.

Great book

Gives a good overview of what macchievelian doctrine is, from the masters own teachings, a brutish world view of politics should be and how to deal with the opposition and populace

Best book ever!

The most famous work from Machiavelli . It’s a short read, I can recommend it to anyone, although in order to understand it better, I will recommended Discourses on Livy which is a more elaborate work that helps the reader to understand his style of writing . Of course , you shouldn’t take the book too literally.

My grandson loved this

Niccolò Machiavelli was a 16th century Florentine diplomat who served the republic with some distinction. However the return of the Medici family, who did not see him as an ally due to his support for the republic, saw Machiavelli spend sevral years in the wilderness, working on his farm and writing. This book, The Prince, was the summary of what Machiavelli had learned and observed of the qualities of rulers, and was written to impress Lorenzo de' Medici, in the hope of securing reemployment. In this short book Machiavelli explains, amongst much else, how princes should organise their defences, whether it is better to be feared than loved, and whether a leader must always act virtuously. There is lots of useful advice here, even for leaders today, but it would certainly help to have at least a working knowledge of the politics of Renaissance Italy - there are lots of references to Italian city states like Forli and Ferrara and key figures like Cesare Borgia and Francesco Sforza - to enjoy the book to the maximum. Machiavelli's writing is not always super easy to follow, but it is not impenetrable. This is one of the great literary works of the past 500 years and is well worth reading for the wisdom in these pages, and for a first hand account of the politics of 16th century Renaissance Italy

Fantastic book.

"It is better to be feared, than to be loved."

Très bon livre. Un classique de littérature.

A book that won't let you sleep if you don't finish it.

Is it a take down of rulers? A warning for the people? Or just a playbook for those in charge? Whatever Machiavelli's true intent, "The Prince" is a fascinating read. It lays out the cold, strategic realities of power and leadership without picking sides. What’s really interesting is that Machiavelli never tells you how to feel about it, he just presents it, and it’s up to you to decide what to make of it. I highly recommend reading this book together with Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power and Montesquieu's "The Spirit of the Laws."