Machiavelli for Beginners - Softcover

Curry, Patrick

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9781874166283: Machiavelli for Beginners

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1874166285 ISBN 13: 9781874166283

Publisher: Icon Books, 1996

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"Machiavellian" is a popular byword for treachery and opportunism. Machiavelli's classic book on statecraft, "The Prince", published over 400 years ago, remains controversial to this day because of its frankness as a practical guide to power. Is it a how-to manual for dictators, a cynical philosophy of "the end justifies the means", or a more complex and subtle analysis of successful government? Machiavelli was a loyal servant of the Florentine republic. His opposition to Medici despotism led him to torture on the rack and exile yet he chose as his model for the Prince the most notorious tyrant Cesare Borgia. This book traces the life of this paradoxical realist whose patriotism made him the first truly modern political scientist. Machiavelli is seen as central to the postmodern debate on civil society.

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From the Author:

Sorry, but let's get the name right.
That's Machiavelli, NOT 'MacHiavelli'. (He was Florentine, not Scottish or Irish.) Thanks, PC

About the Author:

Patrick Curry is a freelance writer and historian living in London. His interests include the history of astrology, literary criticism, politics and ecology. Oscar Zarate is a highly acclaimed graphic artist who has illustrated many Introducing titles.

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