Out of Stock
Overview
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: MACHIAVELLI AND MODERN STATECRAFT 1. Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio; II Principe; Istorie Florentine; Dell' Arte della Guerra, etc. By Niccolo Machiavelli. 2. Erinnerungen und Gedanken. By Bismarck. 3. Central Europe. By Friedrich Naumann. THE work by which Nicholas Machiavelli is best known is ' II Principe ': a treatise popularly regarded as the standard manual of unscrupulous diplomacy. The word Machiavellism, like its counterpart Jesuitism, is a current term with a definite meaning: the former may be employed by an admirer of Machiavelli, as the latter by a lover of the Jesuits. It signifies a philosophy of pure expediency; the subordination of every moral and human consideration to the political needs of the hour. ' The Prince' is a work as characteristic of its author as any of the others; though we may add that it will be best understood by those to whom it is not the only one with which they are acquainted. Some students of Machiavelli have, indeed, tried to place this book in a special category: they have regarded it as ironical; or as a description of the vices of princely rulers cast into the illusory form of a treatise for their guidance; or even as just a time-serving effort to enter into grace with the Medicis, when thus alone its author could hope to obtain public employment. This last motive may, indeed, have had something to do with the actual form of the work; but as for the other interpretations they are surely uncalled for. If ever a writer was clear and consistent and characteristic throughout his works, it is Machiavelli; we may not always like his meaning, but we can never mistake it. Some of the most unscrupulous passages from ' The Prince ' could be set beside others from the ' Discourses on Livy, ' though the first is o...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217321679 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217321674 |
| Weight | 1.06 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.73 In |
| List Price | $24.67 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 326 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
