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Niccolo Machiavelli had been Secretary and Second Chancellor to the Florentine Republic from 1498 but, after Lorenzo de Medici regained control of Florence with help from Pope Julius II and an army of Spanish troops, he was dismissed from his post, tortured for his role in the creation of the Florentine Republic, and sent into exile. It was during his time in exile that Machiavelli began writing the treatise that would ensure his place in the development of political philosophy and conduct.

By far the best known of Machiavelli's treatise is The Prince, a guide to the acquiring and keeping of power.

Since Machiavelli lived during a time of immense political upheaval in Florence, he heavily emphasises the need for stability in a principality if the prince is to maintain power for any length of time. Effectively, The Prince was written primarily as a guide for the Prince to retain his personal power and only secondarily as a guide for preserving the principality itself.

The Prince is a particularly controversial work of political philosophy since, according to Machiavelli, the greatest moral good is a stable state and so therefore any action to protect the stability of the country is justified, even if such an action would be cruel to the population of that country. Machiavelli does, however, strongly suggest that the prince should not be hated. He states that `a wise prince should establish himself on that which is his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavour to avoid hatred'. He then goes on to issue the famous advice that `it is best to be both feared and loved; however, if one cannot be both, it is better to be feared than loved'. Since Machiavelli did not intend his treatise to be a scholarly work of political theory, he wrote The Prince to prove his own proficiency in the art of the state and to offer practical, easily understandable advice to Lorenzo de Medici on how to keep power.

The Prince is concerned with autocratic regimes rather than republics although Machiavelli does discuss his ideas on republics in other works, most notably The Discourses. Machiavelli therefore begins The Prince by discussing the various types of principalities and princes and, in doing so, constructs an outline for the rest of the book. He goes on to explain how a prince can maintain his power in a newly created or annexed principality where he is not familiar with the people and introduces the main concerns of The Prince - power politics, warcraft and popular goodwill - in summary form.

At the heart of The Prince is Machiavelli offering practical advice on a variety of matters that will concern any prince, such as the various routes to power, how to acquire and hold new states, how to with internal insurrection, how to make alliances and how to maintain a strong military. In discussing these matters, Machiavelli's own views on free will, morality and human nature are touched upon.

The Prince then moves on to a discussion of Machiavelli's view that lofty ideals translate into bad government. Machiavelli suggests that certain values can be admired for their own sake but that for a prince to act in accordance with virtue is often detrimental to the good of the state. Similarly, he feels that certain vices can be frowned upon but that vicious actions are sometimes indispensible for a prince to maintain his power. Effectively, the appearance of virtue is seen as more important that the actuality of virtue since that can sometimes be a liability.

The final sections of The Prince link the topics and theories previously discussed within the historical context of Italy's disunity. Machiavelli discusses the failings of previous rulers and concludes by suggesting that it is Lorenzo de Medici who has the power and strength to restore Italy's pride.

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An excellent read - the man wrote, without sentiment or flannel, a piece of sharp political insight. He didn't sugar coat things and this is perhaps why his name became synonymous with devious, manipulative politicing. However as one reads the work it becomes apparent that he was a very astute, informed and observant man who 'said it like it was'. Also apparent are the parallels with contemporary life and recent history. Fascinating stuff.

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I've been meaning to read this book for a number of years now, and I was not disappointed with this "Vintage Classics" version. This is an impressive manual on how a prince should govern/control his people and land. My only slight disappointment is that I just became aware that the publisher of this version recently published a newer version, which is supposed to include some illustrations: The actual written content is the same, but it would have been nice to have had the images to accompany the text. (For reference, the newer version has a blue, instead of a red front cover). Overall, this was quite an enjoyable and easy read. A classic text which should sit on every bookshelf!

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I bought this book because I knew what 'Machiavellian' meant but little about who he was. This is a modern translation of his famous book and although easy enough to read and understand the subject matter is rather dry. It is educational rather than entertaining.

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The content of the book was exactly what I expected and it met my expectations, but the book was damaged when I got out of the carton pack. The whole book has a cut in the middle and looks terrible. I dunno what delivery service amazon use, but sure there is a lot to improve on that. CUstomers dont want their products to arrive damaged. I did not lose much, the book only costed a few pounds, but you are better off paying for the delivery instead of chosing the free one, cuz the products come thrashed.