Customer Reviews

Introducing Machiavelli

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I picked this up from a sorting shelf this afternoon, and I am very very glad I did so. This book introduces you to Machiavelli's life and ideas, and then deftly compares his writings to contemporary and recent history. The "running commentary" by Machiavell is fascinating. It's opened my eyes to just how switched-on Machiavelli was, and how earnest and well-intentioned. I'm definitely going to be reading more about Machiavelli - indeed, this book was so good I'm considered changing out of science and into arts to pursue the topic more closely!

I knew very little about Machiavelli before reading this amusing illustrated book. I had heard many 'negative' remarks about him, but just like Nietzsche, Machiavelli is not at all that simple. A fascinating character with much to say that is still quite relevant to our world today. I will definitely go on to read Machiavelli's books. The cartoon sequence featuring Mussolini and Gramsci in a dialog moderated by old Nick was great. Go out and get this book!

Many people will read the Prince, The Discourses, or the Art of War and not know what the hell Machiavelli was talking about. I picked this book up, and right away I figured the other books out. This is a required reading if you need to read the Prince, or the other books by Machiavelli.

Despite the cartoon nature of the presentation, this is a great book for students of political science, for it presents the complete work of Niccolo Machiavelli. There is the simplistic view of his political philosophy summed up in the phrase, "The ends justify the means", but that does not do justice to his extensive writings on social and political structures.
Machiavelli was a firm believer in a controlled form of liberty based on shared civic responsibility and the current political and economic problems in the United States are predicted by his theories. Machiavelli considered one of the greatest threats to the success of the state was when economic power was concentrated in the hands of a small elite that operated to improve themselves rather than the state. Extrapolating his writings, it is easy to conclude that Machiavelli would believe that it is an economically capable and large middle class that would be the best guarantee of liberty in the modern global economy.
Machiavelli was a political and social cynic, firmly believing that human nature is a certain way and that will not change in the short term of hundreds of years. If you examine the totality of his writings, as is done so well in this book, it becomes clear that he was one of the better political philosophers in history, arguably the best.

Who was Niccolo Machiavelli? Why is his name synonymous with deceit, skullduggery, stiletto knives and J.R. Ewing?
What did he really believe and how would his philosophy be applied throughout time -- even to our current crop of kakistocrats in office?
This book uses illustration to put good ol' "St. Nic" (as I refer to him tongue-in-cheek) in modern situations, each time offereing some pithy comment on the situation. Quite intriguingly done.

Now that McCanles' _Discourse of Il Principe_ is out of print, this is the most readable and insightful analysis / synthesis of Machiavellian thought available. The author catches the dialectical nuances of Machiavelli's thought exactly. But the joy of the text comes from the comparisons between Machiavelli and contemporary figures, e.g., Antonio Gramsci, Benito Mussolini, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, etc. Must read!

I didn't really need an introduction but I got this book based on reviews given to me by friends. Glad I picked it up, it was a great read, entertaining and full of information, giving you insight and opinion, while at the same time, it reads like a small biography.

Less then half of the book is about the life or philosophy of this great thinker. More then half the book is leftist propaganda disguised as objective reasoning obviously intended to indoctrinate the novice - its intended audience. One example should suffice. Margaret Thatcher is made to say: "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families." Machiavelli then responds: "Nothing I ever wrote was worse - this is a republican nightmare and a sure recipe for social and political disaster!" If you do not recoil from this exchange then you have already been indoctrinated. Quickly pick up John Locke or the Federalist Papers to recover. Then help the young readers of this book recover.