The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings".Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it …
The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings".Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it was generally agreed as being especially innovative. This is partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature.The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the "effectual" truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It is also notable for being in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time, particularly those concerning politics and ethics.Although it is relatively short, the treatise is the most remembered of Machiavelli's works, and the one most responsible for bringing the word "Machiavellian" into usage as a pejorative. It even contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words politics and politician in Western countries. In subject matter, it overlaps with the much longer Discourses on Livy, which was written a few years later. In its use of near-contemporary Italians as examples of people who perpetrated criminal deeds for politics, another lesser-known work by Machiavelli to which The Prince has been compared is the Life of Castruccio Castracani.
I had always known about this book. First of all I didn't really get much out of it because the audiobook reading of it was a bit lacklustre and boring.
I do have a idea now what it is about and will keep it in mind if I am planning to invade a neighbouring country. I can see that it does contain good advice in this situation.
To get the most out of it you probably need some kind of annotated version to understand the historical context of what he is saying.
Can't really rate this. If I was a powerful man in a powerful position I'd certainly be able to make use of the advice here. But as such, most of what's written here, and meant for nobodies like me, has been boiled down and repackaged a million times.
A carefully detailed view on which Princes were successful and why. It's like a historically empirical study of Princes. I don't see it as amoral, it purely states what worked for the Princes of the age.
This is both a fascinating and frustrating translation of the work. Marriott goes out of their way to translate literally, but this occasionally results in turns of phrase which don't feel to be in keeping with the rest of the book, and don't line up with other translations that I've read. On the other hand, it's been years since I've read this, so some of that could simply be faulty memory.
I can see why people use this book as the basic of how to be a leader; the book is about ‘how to get power and keep it’. The Prince is one of the first books about modern politics; and I feel like it’s almost ‘The Art of War’ of politics. I really enjoy this book, while a lot of the book is logical, it does give you a lot to ponder and digest. I think this book has been the blueprint of modern politics.
