The Prince
Written in 1513, and first published in 1532, ‘The Prince’ is a political treatise and the best-known work of Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, who is acclaimed as the father of modern political philosophy and political science, and historian who lived during the Renaissance.
‘The Prince’ is the most controversial book about winning authority and holding on to it. It stays as lively and shocking today as when it was written. Machiavelli's tough-minded, pragmatic argument that sometimes it is necessary to abandon ethics to succeed made his name infamous. Yet his book has been read by strategists, politicians, and business people ever since as the ultimate guide to realpolitik.
Originally criticized as a collection of wicked maxims and a hint of tyranny, it has more recently been defended as the first scientific treatment of politics as it is practiced rather than as it ought to be practiced.
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About the Author
Niccolò Machiavelli (May 1469 – 21 June 1527), or more formally Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, was an Italian Renaissance historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer. He has often been called the founder of modern political science. He was for many years a senior official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his most renowned work The Prince (Il Principe) in 1513. "Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described most famously in The Prince. Machiavelli described immoral behavior, such as dishonesty and killing innocents, as being normal and effective in politics. He even seemed to endorse it in some situations. The book itself gained notoriety when some readers claimed that the author was teaching evil, and providing "evil recommendations to tyrants to help them maintain their power." The term "Machiavellian" is often associated with political deceit, deviousness, and realpolitik. On the other hand, many commentators, such as Baruch Spinoza, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Denis Diderot, have argued that Machiavelli was actually a republican, even when writing The Prince, and his writings were an inspiration to Enlightenment proponents of modern democratic political philosophy. In one place for example he noted his admiration for the selfless Roman dictator Cincinnatus.