Collected Works of Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli, the Italian Renaissance historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher and humanist, is regarded by many as the founder of modern political science. His most renowned work, ‘The Prince’, continues to cause great controversy for its advocacy of immoral and ruthless actions in politics. Due to this notorious text, the term "Machiavellian" is often associated with political deceit and deviousness; nevertheless, Machiavelli’s writings were also an inspiration to Enlightenment proponents of modern democratic political philosophy This comprehensive eBook presents Machiavelli’s collected works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material.
"This famous political treatise appears to have been distributed as early as 1513, when Machiavelli was forty-four years old, under the Latin title, De Principatibus (About Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli’s death, with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII. It was written in vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante’s Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature. The Prince is regarded as the first work of modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. The treatise was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning politics and ethics, causing much controversy. Although it is a relatively short text, it is the most remembered of Machiavelli’s works and the one most responsible for bringing the word “Machiavellian” into usage as a pejorative term. The Prince even contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words “politics” and “politician” in western countries. In terms of subject matter, the treatise overlaps with Machiavelli’s much longer Discourses on Livy, composed a few years later."