The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli - Classic Political Philosophy Book | The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written Series | Perfect for Students, History Buffs & Leadership Studies

The Prince is a strange work. It was not written as as a book at all, and was certainly never intended for general publication. Niccolo Machiavelli was the Secretary of State to the Florentine Republic in Renaissance Italy. That Republic was overthrown by the Medici, and the senior officials were beheaded or driven into exile. Machiavelli was fortunate enough to survive. Years later, old and sick, he wanted to return. As a peace offering, he did a cut and paste on a much earlier work he had written called the Discourses. It was a study of all the governmental styles that had been attempted in history, and why they succeeded or failed. The condensed version dealt only with autocracy. He dedicated the manuscript to Lorenzo the Magnificent and sent it to him.Sadly, Lorenzo never saw it and Machiavelli died in exile. The manuscript was found years later by scholars examining Lorenzo's papers. They published it. Many people are shocked by it's ideas yet the rival princes and condotieri used just those ideas to survive in the vicious politics of the Renaissance. The rulers of the day may have been patrons of the arts, but they were quite dangerous as well.I wanted the best version available, and this is it.