Penguin Great Ideas : The Prince: Niccolo Machiavelli - Softcover

Machiavelli, Niccolo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141018852 ISBN 13: 9780141018850

Publisher: Penguin, 2004

Synopsis

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

About this title

Review:

Parks is not only a very good novelist indeed, but he has been translating works from Italian for 20-odd years now, so no one is going to doubt his competence as either an Italianist or writer of stylish English...So this is actually a gripping work, and a gripping translation
-- Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian, Saturday 27 June 2009

From the Back Cover:

'If a ruler wants to survive, he must learn to stop being good'

As a diplomat in turbulent fifteenth-century Florence, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) knew how quickly political fortunes could rise and fall. The Prince, his tough-minded, pragmatic handbook on how power really works, made his name notorious and has remained controversial ever since. How can a leader be strong and decisive, yet still inspire loyalty in his followers? When is it necessary to break the rules? Is it better to be feared than loved? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machievalli answers all these questions in a work of realpolitik that still has shrewd political lessons for today.

Tim Parks's acclaimed contemporary translation renders Machiavelli's no-nonsense original as alarming and enlightening as when it was first written. His introduction discusses Machiavelli's life and reputation, and explores the historical background to the work.

'A gripping work, and a gripping translation' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian

'Tim Parks's swift and supple new translation brings out all its chilling modernity' Boyd Tonkin, Independent

Translated, edited and with an introduction by Tim Parks

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0141018852
• ISBN 13: 9780141018850
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128