The Prince

by Niccolo Machiavelli

Peter Constantine (Translator) and Albert Russell Ascoli (Introduction)

A new translation by Peter Constantine
Introduction by Albert Russell Ascoli
 
The first modern treatise of political philosophy, The Prince is one of the world’s most influential and widely read books. Machiavelli reveals nothing less than the secrets of power: how to gain it, how to wield it, and how to keep it. Ruthless, cunning, and amoral, The Prince is a controversial analysis of manipulation and an essential guide for anyone interested in conquest, self-defense, or observation of dominance and control. The Introduction by noted Italian Renaissance scholar Albert Russell Ascoli provides a perfect opening to Peter Constantine’s illuminating new translation of this seminal work.
 
“Constantine elegantly captures in English the pith of Machiavelli’s brilliant Italian prose.”—Edward Muir, Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University

• ISBN10: 0812978056
• ISBN13: 9780812978056
• Publish Date: 5 February 2008 (first published 4 April 1913)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Modern Library Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 160
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780812978056

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

Non-negotiable: read Ada Palmer’s five-part (plus?) series on Machiavelli. I’ll wait. She makes sense of the enigma, the real Machiavelli, neither lionized nor maligned. The brave thinker; the frightened statesman. Charismatic, unorthodox, forming a response to the Borgia tyranny, trying to save his beloved Florence, playing pranks on the monks, centuries ahead of his time.

It’s the reason I read this book again. I liked it the first time; the context, of which I had grasped only part, makes it even more remarkable now.

Although credit where due: the introduction to this translation does a fair attempt at that context. It’s too Borgia-lite to paint the full bloody picture, but it has Savonarola right there on the first page, so it’s on the right track.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

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.