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Cover of The Prince from Open Library

Public-domain book

The Prince

by Niccolò Machiavelli

1532 · Philosophy

Open Library OL1089297W

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.

About the author

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. More of this shelf for Niccolò Machiavelli.

Where to read it

Open Library hosts the reading view. Some editions open in the browser; others ask you to borrow. Project Gutenberg links in this catalog open the book’s page, not a file kept here.

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