The Prince

For those who approach Nicolau Machiavelli's clear and elegant text without suspicion, it may seem that the author wrote, in 16th century Florence, an abstract manual for the conduct of a leader. However, this classic work of modern philosophy, founding the science of politics, is a product of its time. In 1513, after the dissolution of Florence's republican government and the return of the Medici family to power, Machiavelli is imprisoned, accused of conspiracy. Pardoned by Pope Leo X, he goes into exile and begins to write his great works. The Prince, published posthumously in 1532, is a splendid meditation on leadership conduct and the functioning of the state, produced at a moment in Western history where the right to power no longer depends solely on heredity and blood ties. More than a treatise on the concrete conditions of political play, The Prince is a study on the opportunities offered by fortune, on the virtues and vices intrinsic to the behavior of rulers, with suggestions on morality, ethics, and urban organization that, despite their historical inspiration, remain surprisingly current.