The Prince

by Niccolò Machiavelli Narrated by John Lescault

Overview

Here is the world's most famous master plan for seizing and holding power. Astonishing in its candor, The Prince is 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. Through the years, The Prince has been misunderstood to the extent that Machiavelli's name has become synonymous with unscrupulous political behavior. However, it remains essential reading as the ultimate book on power politics. In it Machiavelli analyzes the usually violent means by which men seize, retain, and lose political power. The Prince provides a remarkably uncompromising picture of the true nature of power, no matter who controls it or in what era.Included are selections from Machiavelli's Discourses upon the First Ten Books of Titus Livy.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do." - Francis Bacon

"Machiavelli is a pivotal figure in the history of political thought. His views of human nature, society and government mark a break with medieval philosophy and sixteenth-century political thought based on assumptions about God’s purposes for man." - New Statesman

"Machiavelli was a pioneer of political science. He was a republican and a patriot. His prose style was as clear as Julius Caesar’s. He was a literary genius." - The Times

"In his 1513 work, The Prince, Machiavelli created a monster that has haunted politics ever since . . . The Prince is not a practical advice manual aimed at any specific individual – rather it creates a fantastic creature, a kind of armoured colossus bestriding (and in Machiavelli’s precocious dream, uniting) Italy." - The Guardian

Sixteenth Century Journal

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

Dominic Baker-Smith

[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.”

author of The Story of Civilization Will Durant

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?”

The Scotsman

A publishing bull's-eye.

The Guardian

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

DECEMBER 2008 - AudioFile

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

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169895094
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2006
Edition description:	Unabridged

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

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