num_pages: 106
description: Here is the world's most famous master plan for seizing and holding power. Astonishing in its candor The Prince even today remains a disturbingly realistic and prophetic work on what it takes to be a prince . . . a king . . . a president. When, in 1512, Machiavelli was removed from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic. The Prince he envisioned would be unencumbered by ordinary ethical and moral values; his prince would be man and beast, fox and lion. Today, this small sixteenth-century masterpiece has become essential reading for every student of government, and is the ultimate book on power politics.
language: English
title: The Prince
titlecomplete: The Prince
characters: Pope Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia, Niccolò Machiavelli, Theseus (mythology), Louis XII of France, Francesco Sforza I, Alexander the Great
genres: Politics, Italy, Italian Literature, School, Philosophy, History, Classics, Political Science, Nonfiction, Literature
ratings_count: 324769
awards: awardedAt: 252489600000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Translation
publisher: Penguin Books