The wisdom that dominates The Prince and The Discourses on Livy merely adorns this text. It is received history, reworked from earlier chronicles, with dense narrative and only brief discussions. We find here not Machiavelli the political philosopher but Machiavelli the literary stylist.

In the firs

NOTA PREVIA: Leí esta obra por haber cursado la materia no-obligatoria de «Maquiavelo (autor)». Como breve reseña de la misma, anexo el reporte de lectura que le dediqué:

***

El propósito de Maquiavelo al hacer una historia de Florencia parece ser, al contrario de otros escritores, no un recuento de l

Don't get me wrong, I am and remain a giant fan of Machiavelli and anyone who is responsible for working with, managing or being managed by other people would do well to read both him and Mancur Olson's "Logic of Collective Action." That said, if you are going to read Machiavelli, read "The Prince"

The importance of this book on the American 'founders' cannot be understated; many of the ideas regarding property and republicanism, usually attributed to Locke or Rome, are expressed with pungent force here. John Adams, in particular, was moved to write essays debating (as it were) Machiavelli.

this is a simple direct translation by WK Marriott . The English is current, and complicated clausal interrelations are lain smooth. Rarely does the reader feel unsure of the author's meaning. Not bad for a trade paperback. Now to read it in Italian to see how well it's done. (Not this year).
this fo

This less-famous work of Machiavelli depicts a medieval Florence, a city garnished with both classical vestiges and Renaissance innovations, a city identified with arts and wealth, a city known for a family -- the Medici family. While the book covered the history of Florence from its very Roman begi

A fascinating history of Florence from one of the greatest political minds in history.

One of the best written histories of its time; despite some factual inaccuracy it is immaculately well written and a must read for the early modern intellectual historian.

First, it should be noted that this is a political history, and does not address the cultural or arts of the period. I liked it and thought it showed the difficulties of governance in an area and era of factions; and factions are a significant factor in different parts of the world today. Machiavell

The year 2015 went as expected. This is the last book of this year.

Machiavelli was reviled by many for his "evilness" in the Prince. I kind of feel sorry for him, for there is someone who's much more evil than Machiavelli but somehow got away from being totally disgusted by others, because he had wo