The Prince

by Niccolò Machiavelli

Overview

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED
BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:
• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
• A chronology of the author's life and work
• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
• Detailed explanatory notes
• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.
SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780743487689
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	07/01/2004
Series:	Enriched Classics
Edition description:	Enriched Classic
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy at a time when the country was in political upheaval. Italy was divided between four dominant city-states, and each of these was continually at the mercy of the stronger foreign governments of Europe. Since 1434 the wealthy Medici family ruled Florence. A reform movement, begun in 1494, temporarily interrupted their rule in which the young Machiavelli became an important diplomat. When the Medici family regained power in 1512 with the help of Spanish troops, Machiavelli was tortured and removed from public life. For the next 10 years he devoted himself to writing history, political philosophy, and even plays. He ultimately gained favor with the Medici family and was called back to public duty for the last two years of his life.

Read an Excerpt

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Seventeenth Chapter: Concerning Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than Feared

...Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you succeed, they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children, as is said above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. And that prince, who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or by nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and in time of need cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails....

Twenty-First Chapter: How a Prince Should Conduct Himself So as to Gain Renown

...A prince is also respected when he is either a true friend or a downright enemy, that is to say, when, without any reservation, he declares himself in favour of one party against the other; which course will always be more advantageous than standing neutral; because if two of your powerful neighbours come to blows, they are of such a character that, if one of them conquers, you have either to fear him or not. In either case it will always be more advantageous for you to declare yourself and to make war strenously; because, in the first case, if you do not declare yourself, you will invariably fall a prey to the conqueror, to the pleasure and satisfaction of his who has been conquered, and you will have no reasons to offer, nor anything to protect or to shelter you. Because he who conquers does not want doubtful friends who will not aid him in the time of trial; and he who loses will not harbour you because you did not willingly, sword in hand, court his fate....

Translation by: W.K. Marriott

Table of Contents

Map

Introduction

Translator's Note

Selected Books

Machiavelli's Principal Works

Letter to the Magnificent Lorenzo de Medici ..... 1

I: How many kinds of principality there are and the ways in which they are acquired ..... 5

II: Hereditary principalities ..... 5

III: Composite principalities ..... 6

IV :Why the kingdom of Darius conquered by Alexander did not rebel against his successors after his death ..... 13

V: How cities or principalities which lived under their own laws should be administered after being conquered ..... 16

VI: New principalities acquired by one's own arms and prowess ..... 17

VII: New principalities acquired with the help of fortune and foreign arms ..... 20

VIII: Those who come to power by crime ..... 27

IX: The constitutional principality ..... 31

X: How the strength of every principality should be measured ..... 34

XI: Ecclesiastical principalities ..... 36

XII: Military organization and mercenary troops ..... 39

XIII: Auxiliary, composite, and native troops ..... 43

XIV: How a prince should organize his militia ..... 47

XV: The things for which men, and especially princes, are praised or blamed ..... 49

XVI: Generosity and parsimony ..... 51

XVII: Cruelty and compassion; and whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse ..... 53

XVIII: How princes should honour their word ..... 56

XIX: The need to avoid contempt and hatred ..... 58

XX: Whether fortresses and many of the other present-day expedients to which princes have recourse are useful or not ..... 67

XXI: How a prince must act to win honour ..... 71

XXII: A prince's personal staff ..... 75

XXIII: How flatterers must be shunned ..... 76

XXIV: Why the Italian princes have lost their states ..... 78

XXV: How far human affairs are governed by fortune, and how fortune can be opposed ..... 79

XXVI: Exhortation to liberate Italy from the barbarians ..... 82

Glossary of Proper Names ..... 86

Notes ..... 99

What People are Saying About This

John M. Najemy

I still consider Atkinson's translation of The Prince the best of the many . . . out there, especially with its extensive and extraordinarily valuable commentary. (John M. Najemy, Professor of History, Cornell University, 2007)

Mario Domandi

This edition of the The Prince has three distinct and disparate objectives: to provide a fresh and accurate translation; to analyze and find the roots of Machiavelli's thought; and to collect relevant extracts from other works by Machiavelli and some contemporaries, to be used to illuminate and explicate the text. The objectives are all reached with considerable and admirable skill. The reader senses Professor Atkinson's empathy and feeling for even the tiniest movements in Machiavelli's mind. Professor Atkinson has done a great service to students and teachers of Machiavelli, who should certainly welcome this as the most useful edition of The Prince in English. (Mario Domandi, Italica, 1978)

Editorial Reviews

[Machiavelli] can still engage our attention with remarkable immediacy, and this cannot be explained solely by the appeal of his ironic observations on human behaviour. Perhaps the most important thing is the way he can compel us to reflect on our own priorities and the reasoning behind them; it is this intrusion into our own defenses that makes reading him an intriguing experience. As a scientific exponent of the political art Machiavelli may have had few followers; it is as a provocative rhetorician that he has had his real impact on history.” –from the Introduction by Dominic Baker-Smith

From the Publisher

[Machiavelli] demands to be read—plainly and boldly, but also cautiously.”

Sixteenth Century Journal

[Machiavelli] can still engage our attention with remarkable immediacy, and this cannot be explained solely by the appeal of his ironic observations on human behavior. Perhaps the most important thing is the way he can compel us to reflect on our own priorities and the reasoning behind them; it is this intrusion into our own defenses that makes reading him an intriguing experience.”

Dominic Baker-Smith

There is something stimulating in Machiavelli’s forthrightness. Reading him, we are brought face to face, as nowhere else so vividly, with a question that few philosophers had dared to discuss: is statesmanship bound by morality?”

author of The Story of Civilization Will Durant

A publishing bull's-eye.

The Scotsman

Richardson is speaking one-to-one. He is personal, intimate, confidential. That is at it should be.

The Guardian

This is the book that made the author's name into a dark symbol of unalloyed power and sinister political motives. That reputation, though, is somewhat undeserved, and this new recording brings fresh insights and interpretations to the work. Narrator Ian Richardson does a magnificent job with this classic text. He reads with such focus and mellifluous beauty that we must remind ourselves that the book is over 500 years old, and not a contemporary political tract. Richardson's diction and pacing are legendary from his long career on stage and in films, and he applies these talents effortlessly, emphasizing key phrases, speaking conversationally, and making it appear as if he’s reading to only one person at a time. If you've never read THE PRINCE, here is a wonderful opportunity to do so. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2008 - AudioFile