Publisher : Addison Wesley Educational Publishers
Publication Date : 1997 01
>> When a name becomes a pejorative adjective
Machiavellian not normally considered a term of approbation There are numerous editions of this classic book on the use of political power written in the 16th Century In my edition which I first purchased and read over 40 years ago there is an introduction by Christian Gauss In it he says On the strength of a famous essay of Macaulay s the notion had become fairly widespread that the devil himself had become familiarly known as the Old Nick only because Niccolo had been Machiavelli s first name Machiavelli based his book on what seems to be an eminently sensible proposition instead of describing an ideal world or society why not describe political power in the context of the real world shorn of moral considerations He best formulated this premise in chapter 15 on Of the Things for which Men and Especially Princes are Praised or Blamed when he says Therefore it is necessary for a prince who wishes to maintain himself to learn how not to be good and to use this knowledge and not use it according to the necessity of the case
Machiavelli was a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and lived at a time when the Popes like Alexander VI openly fathered children despite that much tattered vow of chastity On my recent re read the classic and timeless nature of Machiavelli s insights was confirmed Various passages could have tumbled out of today s headlines Thus it came about that King Charles of France was allowed to take Italy without the slightest trouble and those who said that it was owing to our sins Sounds like Pat Robertson pontificating about the reasons for 9 11 or the Haiti earthquake it was God s wrath at our sins There are substantial passages dedicated to the quality and type of soldiers that fight on behalf of your country Consider The mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous and if any one supports his state by the arms of mercenaries he will never stand firm or sure And now America due to the repeal of the draft has an increasing chasm between the few that fight its wars and the many who rest comfortably at home and there is also an increasing reliance on foreigners in our military serving in the hopes of obtaining citizenship as well as a large number of mercenaries epitomized by the infamous Blackwater Group And how does this sound for a description of the nobility of Wall Street utilizing the political system regardless of political party for when the nobility see that they are unable to resist the people they unite in exalting one of their number and creating him prince so as to be able to carry out their own designs under the shadow of his authority
The Prince is a short book barely a hundred pages in my edition without the introduction It is not a particularly easy read for it is often a string of aphorisms that need to be considered and digested all placed against a background of historical examples that most Americans are not familiar with like the internecine struggles of Italy at the time the various sieges of Syracuse and we re not talking New York and the rule of Darius In general though Machiavelli s judgments have withstood the test of time And the book is choppy as the author jumps from one topic to the other Some of his assessments are questionable Consider A prince is further esteemed when he is a true friend or a true enemy when that is he declares himself without reserve in favor of some one or against another This policy is always more useful than remaining neutral Yet we have witnessed the enormous power and influence certain politicians have achieved by remaining in that seeming neutral position as the swing vote as recently exemplified in the effort to pass comprehensive health care reform Machiavelli concludes his book with a polemic of exhortation urging that Italy be liberated from the barbarians The chapter is so anomalous with the rest of the work that some have proposed that it was added by others after his death
Finally I liked the balance that he struck between fortune a/k/a dumb blind luck and our ability to affect our fate Nevertheless that our free will may not be altogether extinguished I think it may be true that fortune is the ruler of half our actions but that she allows the other half or thereabouts to be governed by us
Overall on the re read 4 stars
>> Better than expected
To be honest I ve never like these types of books I bought this book as a reading requirement for one of my class and was dreading how long and archaic it might be But when I started reading it voila it s not that long and boring after all Much better than some other required reading you have to read over the year The book written by Machiavelli itself isn t long What s long is the notes that came after every chapter And even though it was labeled like a chapter the longest wwas only a few pages some was as short as two paragraphs
There are many who likes this book I m sure But for those that don t like required reading like me I preferred reading for pleasure not required this book while not an easy read is quite light and might even be enjoyable
>> A fantastic tour de force for political realism
Written with an accessible yet supremely elegant prose I found Machiavelli s most famous work a delightful provocative chronicle of political realism Written as an open letter to a Renaissance era ruler Machiavelli prescribes the ins and outs of how to seize defend and expand a kingdom using countless historical examples to support his claims However The Prince finds is true power not in the political answers it offers to its readers but the difficult questions it raises In today s day and age chances are if you re on Amazon com reading this review you re living in a democracy You were probably raised to revere democratic and republican ideals and if that s the case you will feel uncomfortable reading The Prince at times although I found this aspect exciting Machiavelli seems to unapologetically endorse oppression violence and cruelty at times but does so in pragmatic way that will make you question your ideals These moments represent what I personally love about books and what I consider to be the true power of literature and Machiavelli s work despite being a relatively short 129 pages has them in spades
Unlike a few reviewers I had no problem with the translation I haven t tried reading any other versions but I found the Enriched Classic version very pleasant and definitely readable in fact I was impressed with how well Machiavelli s Italian was translated into such beautiful flowing English It s a great size and you can take it pretty much anywhere so if you re like me and tend to cram your reading into your fleeting moments of free time throughout the day it s perfect Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this book It no doubt deserves its status as a classic and I heartily recommend it to anyone willing to consider politics from a different angle
