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Title: The Prince (Rethinking the Western Tradition) by Niccolo Machiavelli, Angelo M. Codevilla, Carnes Lord, Hadley Arkes, W. B. Allen ISBN: 0-300-06403-9 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 (174 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Here's your quintessential "What Would Machiavelli Do?" book
Comment: I just had an interesting discussion with a young man who was convinced that Machiavelli was evil. I found out he'd never even tried to read "The Prince", which is the quintessential guide to Machiavelli's political mind. This young man's preconception is a very common one, alas.
In this book, presented in short chapters, one finds a guidebook to taking power and ruling a small country. Nowhere does it suggest using excessive force, nor does it suggest gratuitous violence. It is straightforward and pragmatic. Machiavelli suggests keeping one's goal, political power, in mind all the time, and is not afraid to discuss unpleasant ways of getting and keeping that power. It is the essence of ruthlessness, but what politician doesn't do this every day? In every competitive, demanding occupation, participants must keep goals in mind constantly and work completely toward those goals. Machiavelli was just one of the first to codify how to do it. And codify he does -- the book is filled with suggestions on how to handle everything from whether to hire mercenary troops to how to make the commoners love you.
Though Machiavelli's writing is somewhat archaic and definitely rich in idea density, it is worth the read. I think everybody, from students to politicos to housekeepers to entrepreneurs, would benefit from the information contained herein. I do suggest getting a decent grounding in Italian history before the attempt.
Rating: 5
Summary: Machivellian at Heart
Comment: After being described as Machiavellian by some of the fellow members of my youth government group, I decided to find out what they meant. I soon discovered that to be Machiavellian, is to be " a person having ruthless ambition, craftiness, and merciless political tactics." I took this comparison as a compliment and learned more Niccolo Machiavelli by reading one of his books, The Prince. The Prince begins with an in-depth historical introduction by Christian Gauss discussing the history of Italy. This background is essential so that readers have a basic understanding of where Machiavelli was coming from with his ideas. Machiavelli, a son of a Florentine lawyer, lived back in the 16th Century. He was a humanist and grew up reading the works of the Romans and the Greeks. It was because of his studies that he was able to analyze history and formulate his own theories on ruling a nation. Following this introduction, Machiavelli essentially provides the first ever "idiots guide to ruling a country" in 26 chapters. Within these chapters he answers questions such as whether it is better to be hated by the people or loved by the aristocracy, whether one should raise armies within a nation or hirer mercenaries, and what happens when you rule as a villain. Machiavelli's philosophy on every aspect of ruling a nation is discussed within this novel. The best part of this novel is how straightforward Machiavelli was in his writing. He cuts the fluff, and is blunt with his points. He is also very original in his thoughts about power. He does not try to conceal the political motives. In one section Machiavelli clearly presents his view on the importance for a prince to have religion:
Whoever reads Roman history attentively will see in how great a degree religion served in the command of the armies, in uniting the people and keeping them well conducted, and in covering the wicked with shame.(Machiavelli, pg. 78)
In this quote, Machiavelli never talks about how spirituality is important in satiating a God. Instead he talks about how a ruler can take advantage of a religion's power to be a massive propaganda machine. This is just the way Machiavelli presents his ideas. His views are often described as ruthless, but I feel they are just honest, accurate reflections of men's motives in politics. When reading the book, the only thing that bothered me was that my knowledge of European history is severely lacking. Frequently within the novel Machiavelli would make references to ancient battles such as the Venetians and France versus the Duke of Milan, or ancient people such as the Spartans, or the Medici. For this reason I would advise taking an AP or College Class in European History. A important insight is lost by a reader without this knowledge in any number of quotes such as this one:
But when one cannot avoid it, as happened in the case of the Florentines when the Pope and Spain went with their armies to attack Lombardy, the prince ought to join for the above reasons.(Machiavelli, pg. 112)
In this quote, I was completely ignorant to the fact that Spain and the Pope ever united, and furthermore that they then attacked a country, Lombardy, one that I had never heard of before. It was just frustrating to read a section and be completely bewildered afterwards, so that is why I suggest having a good knowledge of history before reading this book. By the end of the novel, my mind was racing with Machiavelli's theories on being a great ruler and I was anxious to go out and conquer my own nation. Unfortunately, Machiavelli wrote this a while ago and many of the things he described cannot be implemented today. However, a lot of his basic ideas can still be applied and this serves as an inspiration for me in my quest for power. Even though the days of Princes ruling are dead, anyone from modern day politicians to tech-company owners can appreciate Machiavelli's theories about control of power.
Rating: 4
Summary: Incomplete for an adult, but good reading for a ninth grader
Comment: Sometimes it is strange to think how far common knowledge has advanced over the past several hundred years. DaVinci was truly revolutionary during the Renaissance. Many of his ideas on art principles and inventions were hundreds of years before their time- absolutely brilliant. Yet he considered multiplication to be the holy grail of intellect and, despite reaching out to math giants of his time, never truly "mastered" the mysterious multiplication tables.
Similarly, Machiavelli's The Prince expounds many salient and prescient points of human nature yet is retarded in many of the most basic. The Prince is a primer on how to kill in the chess match of life when the masses are more marginalized and power is far less evenly distributed than the modern civilized world (imagine that in the U.S.). The Prince's methods were brutal yet affective in the time it was first published. In today's world they only work regularly in third world countries, the Enron Corporation pre- 2001 and the underworld. Hence the referrence in gangster rap songs.
The kill first or be killed ethos of The Prince echoes most resonantly in the modern day example of someone like Donald Trump. Far from being a recipe for success, he was fantastically lucky that he got off the ground if he was the same megalomaniac and and uncooperative egomaniac when he first started in his business. How many jack arses could have taken his place?
In today's world, The Prince strategies, in themselves, would work only in lottery winner conditions in a world that more closely resembles an open competition. The major principles that The Prince ignore are "pimping" the concepts of cooperation and mutual benefit.
Isn't a handicap in business to show your cards by being ridiculously arrogant, having a well publicised record of being overly shrewd in the past, and foppish?
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Title: The Art of War by Sun Tzu ISBN: 0385292163 Publisher: Delacorte Press Pub. Date: 10 March, 1983 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Martin Edward Malia ISBN: 0451527100 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli, Ellis Farneworth ISBN: 030681076X Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 04 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Wealth of Nations (Great Minds Series) by Adam Smith ISBN: 0879757051 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: December, 1991 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: On War by Karl Von Clausewitz, Carl Von Clausewitz, Anatol Rapoport, Carl Von Clausewitz ISBN: 0140444270 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1982 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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