The Prince Summary

This is the Prince Summary. Done by Machiavelli, this is one book you cannot ignore. A timeless classic, you need to add this book to your reading bucket list.

As a young Florentine envoy to the courts of France and the Italian principalities, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was able to observe firsthand the lives of people strongly united under one powerful ruler.

His fascination with that political rarity and his intense desire to see the Medici family assume a similar role in Italy provided the foundation for his “primer for princes.”

In addition, in this classic guide to acquiring and maintaining political power, Machiavelli used a rational approach to advise prospective rulers.

This is by developing logical arguments and alternatives for a number of potential problems, among them:

  • Governing hereditary monarchies
  • Dealing with colonies – and
  • The treatment of conquered peoples.

Refreshing in its directness, yet often disturbing in its cold practicality, The Prince by Machiavelli sets down a frighteningly pragmatic formula for political fortune.

Starkly relevant to the political upheavals of the 20th century, this calculating prescription for power remains today, nearly 500 years after it was written, a timely and startling lesson in the practice of autocratic rule that continues to be much read and studied by students, scholars and general readers as well.

You would need to look at Machiavelli as he really was to understand this book.

Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations be Machiavellian as we understand the disparaging term?

You will learn so much in this world’s most famous master plan for seizing and holding power.

The Prince Summary and why you should read it!

  • So is it that to know the nature of a people, one needs to be a Prince; To know the nature of a Prince, one needs to be of the people?
  • If a Prince is not given to vices that make him hated, is it unusual for his subjects to show their affection for him?
  • Opportunity made Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and others; their virtue dominated the opportunity, making their homelands noble and happy.
  • Armed prophets won; the disarmed lost
  • Without faith and religion, man achieves power but not glory.
  • Prominent citizens want to command and oppress; the populace only wants to be free of oppression.
  • A Prince needs a friendly populace; otherwise, in diversity, there is no hope.
  • A Prince, who rules as a man of valor, avoids disasters.
  • Nations based on mercenary forces will never be solid or secure.
  • Mercenaries are dangerous because of their cowardice.
  • There are two ways to fight: one with laws, the other with force. The first is rightly man’s way; the second is the way of beasts

Astonishing in its candor The Prince even today remains a disturbingly realistic and prophetic work on what it takes to be a prince . . . a king . . . a president.

When, in 1512, Machiavelli was removed from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic.

Today, this small sixteenth-century masterpiece has become essential reading for every student of government and is the ultimate book on power politics.

This book is available for you that would like to read it…

  • It will cost you just Ksh 699
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