The Prince

Author: Niccolò Machiavelli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: Among Machiavelli's works, The Prince is the smallest in size but the most famous. Published five years after the author's death in 1532, it has been in print for over 450 years and has sparked various strong reactions across religious, political, academic, and social spheres from the West to the East. In the 1980s, it was listed as one of the most influential and bestselling top ten world classics. This book is the masterpiece of Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian statesman and thinker. Machiavelli was a staunch advocate of unified, centralized nation-states. He believed that the existence of the Pope and the Church, as well as the mutual jealousy and disdain among the city-states, caused Italy to lose its leading position in commerce and trade during the medieval period. Moreover, the lack of a unified nation-state left Italy subjected to the oppression of Spain, France, and Germany. The development of capitalism urgently demanded political transformation toward stable and unified order. To end Italy's fragmented state and unify it into a single nation, he argued that one should be unbound by any moral principles and willing to use any means to achieve one's goals.