Machiavelli Florence

The Prince - Translator's Introduction
The Prince - The Man and His Works
The Prince - Author's Dedication
The Prince - Ch. 01-03
The Prince - Ch. 04-06
The Prince - Ch. 07-08
The Prince - Ch. 09-11
The Prince - Ch. 12-13
The Prince - Ch. 14-16
The Prince - Ch. 17-18
The Prince - Ch. 19
The Prince - Ch. 20-22
The Prince - Ch. 23-26
The Prince - Appendix 01

Mentioning the name Niccol Machiavelli can unleash a powerful response, even among people who have never read a word of his writings. Our language even has a word ”Machiavellian”that encapsulates the images those responses conjure up: An indistinct figure quietly making his way through the darkest corridors of power, hatching plots to play one rival against another. A cold-blooded political liar, ready to justify any duplicity undertaken in the name of a noble end that will ultimately justify the most malignant means. A coolly practical leader ”amoral at best” willing to do whatever is necessary in a world governed not by ideas of right or wrong, but by solutions dictated by realpolitik. But does the Machiavelli most of us think we know bear any resemblance to the Machiavelli who lived, pondered, and wrote?

Of the remaining works of Machiavelli the most important is the History of Florence written between 1521 and 1525, and dedicated to Clement VII. The first book is merely a rapid review of the Middle Ages, the history of Florence beginning with Book II. Machiavelli's method has been censured for adhering at times too closely to the chroniclers like Villani, Cambi, and Giovanni Cavalcanti, and at others rejecting their testimony without apparent reason, while in its details the authority of his History is often questionable. It is the straightforward, logical narrative, which always holds the interest of the reader that is the greatest charm of the History.