Product Description

A classic treatise on practical leadership and power politics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3400 in Books
• Published on: 1984-09-01
• Released on: 1984-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 176 pages

Amazon.com Review
When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. The person who held the aforementioned office with the tongue-twisting title was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who, suddenly finding himself out of a job after 14 years of patriotic service, followed the career trajectory of many modern politicians into punditry. Unable to become an on-air political analyst for a television network, he only wrote a book. But what a book The Prince is. Its essential contribution to modern political thought lies in Machiavelli's assertion of the then revolutionary idea that theological and moral imperatives have no place in the political arena. "It must be understood," Machiavelli avers, "that a prince ... cannot observe all of those virtues for which men are reputed good, because it is often necessary to act against mercy, against faith, against humanity, against frankness, against religion, in order to preserve the state." With just a little imagination, readers can discern parallels between a 16th-century principality and a 20th-century presidency. --Tim Hogan

Review
"'Connell provides by far the best historical introduction to a student text of The Prince that I have ever seen. It is concise, clear, and remarkably straightforward given the complexity of the issues it treats, including not only the precise context of the work's composition, but also some very helpful description of its reception. As a whole, in my view, this edition of The Prince is the very best available in English, and I look forward to using it in my classes.' - Kenneth Gowens, University of Connecticut, USA 'This edition of The Prince handles all the basics well, but this version goes beyond the norm in that everything, from the introduction to the notes to the translation to the related documents, is chosen in such a way as to make this complicated work make real sense to students who may be coming to it with very little background. That the translator has produced such a version while also-in the related documents as well as in some of the notes-incorporating some real scholarly discoveries is all the more to his credit.' - Christopher Celenza, Michigan State University, USA 'This is one of the best critical editions of The Prince available in English, if not the best. What I mean by this is quite literal: readers who want to cite Machiavelli chapter and verse should use this edition. Readers who want some sense of how the text evolved, while reading it in an accessible form, should use this edition. Readers who want a good introduction to related documentation, should also turn to Connell.' - Paula Findlen, Stanford University, USA

. . .it is always refreshing to see someone placing Old Nick solidly within the framework of his times. -- Niccolò Capponi, The Journal of Military History, 69.4 (2005) 1200-1201

Apart from bringing out the "true" Machiavelli. . . Connell has done an excellent job of translating and annotating the text. -- Niccolò Capponi, The Journal of Military History, 69.4 (2005) 1200-1201

Review
“[Machiavelli] can still engage our attention with remarkable immediacy, and this cannot be explained solely by the appeal of his ironic observations on human behaviour. 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. As a scientific exponent of the political art Machiavelli may have had few followers; it is as a provocative rhetorician that he has had his real impact on history.” –from the Introduction by Dominic Baker-Smith


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Hard to follow
Always heard about the man and the book but it was difficult trying to follow and understand. Gave up three quarters of the way through. Did learn a little something though.

The Giant of the Self-Help Genre
Forget about Covey and the habits of highly effective people and any other book you have ever glanced at to try to pick yourself up and guide yourself out of the rat race and have a look at the greatest specimen ever conceived of the self-help genre. The Prince is a mysterious, multi-layered magnum opus with shocking and provocative insights into politics, psychology, religion, and life. Not for the lazy or shallow reader.

A Poor Translation
This review was submitted on the web page presenting Mansfield's translation.

I have been using Wootton's translation of The Prince in a university program where the texts are set by the faculty. This year we changed to the Mansfield translation and I've requested that we return to Wootton's.

In his attempt to provide an "accurate" translation of the Italian, Mansfield made the mistake of many translators in overlooking the clarity of his English prose.

For example, where Wootton writes, "he increased the strength of one of the most powerful Italian states," Mansfield writes, "he . . . increased the power of a power in Italy." (15) There are other odd uses of diction in Mansfield, for example, where Wootton speaks of a "founder," Mansfield uses the word "introducer." (23) And though concise in places, Mansfield has a tendency to write long sentences, perhaps in imitation of the Italian, where Wootton is more to the point.

If you're still not convinced, compare the following passages:

Wootton: "So, too, with those who, having been private citizens, were made emperors of Rome because they had corrupted the soldiers. Such rulers are entirely dependent on the goodwill and good fortune of whoever has given them power. Good will and good fortune are totally unreliable and capricious."

Mansfield: ". . . as also those emperors were made who from private individual [sic] attained the empire through corrupting soldiers. These persons rest simply on the will and fortune of whoever has given a state to them, which are two very inconstant and unstable things."