Customer Reviews

The Prince

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Machiavelli wrote this masaterpiece for the Prince of Florence as a guide on how to attain power and, once there, how to keep it. The lessons contained therein are as true today as they were in Renaissance Italy 500 years ago. While much of what Machiavelli has to say may seem "underhanded" or even "immoral", this book has been the manual for many who were successful in reaching their political goals - one might even say (in true Machiavellian fashion) that morals have no place in politics...

Regardless of one's feelings about the messages of the book, it is an excellent commentary on the human condition, on politics, and especially on those who practice the art. Highly recommended.

How to rule the world when the rest of the world is ruled by wimps! Not really, but this book proves that strong, aggressive leaders are the only ones who can get things done (even look at more recent history - Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain are a perfect example). This book not only talks about how to reign supreme, but how to avoid scandal, etc. Perfect for the young ambitious politicians and business executives out there. This edition in particular is good too because it has several things most others don't - a lengthy introduction explaining Machiavelli's character, and some recorded history by Machiavelli (History of the Duke Valentino's Conquests, Life of Castruccio Castracani) all in all a good read, and a word of advice to those ambitious and forgetful - write commentaries after every chapter, it helps with language skills and you'll have philosophical points on paper an easier to access.

'The Prince' must be mandatory reading for anyone dealing with groups of people, not as a manual for action, but as a weapon against those who opt Machiavelli's operating principles, which unfortunately, is often a natural response in a power struggle.

"The Prince" has been reviewed "here" ad nauseam with mixed quality. The noise may make it difficult for readers to focus their attention on the value of this book which, after 500 years, should be self evident. Machiavelli states, "... good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsel." Thus, all would-be prince-readers should immerse themselves into Machiavelli's thoughts from a free Project Gutenberg version and should it prove fruitless, no further action need be done. Among various versions, the crispness and eloquence of the JK Marriott translation is without equal and ideal in the acid free paper Everyman hardcover edition, complete with ribbon bookmark. The Everyman size is perfect, it opens almost flat, its paper is rigid and crisps with page turns, providing a suitable tactility for Machivelli's revelations.

A must read for any student of life who wishes understand the inner workings of power and political control. This should be on the reading list of every high school student in America. It will greatly inhance their ability to think with critically about the complex events occurring in the world today. Allowing them to categorize those events in their proper political context.

a cookbook of power politics. Lacks depth and it harms the reader.