The Prince
The Prince
A short treatise on acquiring and holding a state, written in exile and dedicated to a Medici. Machiavelli prefers what rulers do to what mirror-books said they should do.
Author
Niccolò Machiavelli
Machiavelli’s The Prince is a short, blunt book about getting and keeping power. It has been read as advice, as satire, and as a report on how states actually behave.
The Prince
The Prince
Many commentators have viewed that one of the main themes of The Prince is that immoral acts are sometimes necessary to achieve political glory. From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version was being written, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities).