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Title: The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Shelly Frasier ISBN: 1-4001-0059-3 Publisher: Tantor Media Inc. Pub. Date: 15 December, 2002 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 4 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 (177 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A scientific analysis of politics by a Realpolitiker
Comment: I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 for the applicability of Machiavelli's principles to today's world. I'm sure that his experiences in medieval Italian politics and his observations were cutting edge at the time, but many contemporary readers will be unable to apply his timeless observations to modern life.
From an historical standpoint, this is a how-to manual for an Italian prince to unify the factuous Italian principalities. Machiavelli was an Italian patriot, who observed how outside powers could do anything they wanted in Italy, and how they needed a 'strongman' to unify the feuding factions and bring Italy to its rightful place as THE major European power.
He uses many examples from history and his life in Italian courts to systematically indentify different kinds of states(principalities), how they are governed and what their respective strengths and weaknesses are.
He also explains tactics for imperialism, for example, how best to rule conquered states. He also gives advice to princes, on how to rule effectively. He frequently cites Duke Valentino as an excellent example of a prince(nowadays a political leader) who almost unified northern Italy.
Many of the examples Machiavelli uses are from Roman or medieval times, but I found them still applicable to many situations in modern life. His disdain for mercenary troops boils down to, if you want something done right, do it yourself. He observed during his time, that mercenary troops talked tough in peace, but during actual battles, they often proved unreliable, so he advocated using one's own forces in battles.
He also advocated that avoiding battles are bad if it weakens one's tactical position. If avoiding battles allows the enemy to strengthen himself, it is best to engage in it now, so long as you are assured of winning. This minimizes your loses in the future. He is also smart enough to realize that it takes intelligence and foresight from the prince, to determine these scenarios, and ultimately the state is run only as effectively as the Prince is intelligent.
He also intelligently attributes good government from intelligent and perceptive Princes, as they are able to discern good advice from bad. There are also a couple maxims which come through the book: mimic success, allow advisors to speak freely in private, rely on yourself only, don't get invovled in alliances or operations where you end up comparatively weak, and don't build up enemies.
Any person with ability to apply old examples to modern life will reap many benefits from this book. If you are the type of person who finds anything written before you were born 'weird' or 'stupid', don't get it.
Rating: 3
Summary: Definitely worth spending a few hours on
Comment: This little volume makes for some entertaining reading but it is not the supreme Renaissance literary or philosophical masterwork, as some would like us to believe. Based on admittedly sound insights in mass psychology and geopolitics, Machiavelli formulates some practical guidelines for autocratic rulers, helping them to seize power and to hold on to it. By no means the author's intention is to instill his target audience with cruelty and bad faith. His reasoning is thoroughly pragmatic in the sense that it outlines the implications of a particular course of action, substantiated by concrete examples from Machiavelli's own time and from Antiquity.
I would say that many observations are still relevant and applicable today. In that sense, The Prince is as good a book on leadership as you will find on the shelves under the Management heading today. As a management consultant, I was quite sensitive to the point that is made in two of the final sections of the book - A prince's personal staff' and 'How flatterers must be shunned' - about the relationship between the prince and his advisers. Machiavelli makes a very good point when he holds forth that "The choosing of ministers is a matter of no little importance for a prince; and their worth depends on the sagacity of the prince himself." In other words: a leader gets the advice that he deserves. If the consultancy profession has been taken under fire lately because of malpractices, charlatanism and greed, then this is to a significant extent rooted in the immature and opportunistic attitude of many clients vis-à-vis their advisers. If external consultants are drawn in to turn the odds in political battles or to relieve the client of responsibilities about decisions he ought to take himself, then, yes, you can be sure that the sharks will come and take their due. It's a matter of choice and vigilance. Machiavelli knew it all along.
(Review was based on George Ball's translation in the Penguin Classics series)
Rating: 5
Summary: Tricky Work, Tricky Translation--Highly Recommended!
Comment: Machiavelli was a moderately significant figure in Renaissance Florence at the time that city was busy shaping the essence of the modern world. His works (all of them, but especially the Prince) capture much of what is pivotal in this culture. The book is advice to princes on how to seize and hold power. Mostly, that means you need to trick people and use ruthless violence intelligently. (He suggests that, if you could invent something like the Catholic Church, you'd be in a specially good position to set up a rule that would draw a lot of allegiance and a lot of taxes, would have no responsibilities, and would never end.) It's great reading as literature and as history, and also incredibly subtle and insightful as an analysis of human psychology. Mostly, this work praises cunning intelligence; it is also written for the reader who possesses the same. Consequently, it is a book that requires real patience and attention if its real treasures are to be found. Mansfield's translation is, I believe, the best for allowing one to look for the inner depth of the book. The translation is inspired by the work of Leo Strauss, and, as is typical of Straussian translations, it is a translation that is extremely careful to reflect the subtleties of the language of the original in order to retain their complex intimations etc. This is the translation I use when I teach the book because of its precision and elegance. It also has helpful historical notes that provide some of the essential context that is necessary to understanding Machiavelli's words; (Machiavelli often, for example, describes some historical figure in a fashion which will suggest the opposite of his true point to the reader who does not take the trouble to learn the details of the context he is referring to, and Mansfield is helpful in supplying guides to the modern reader for what to study in order to get past these textual deceptions). Overall, this is an outstanding translation of one of the great books of Western culture. I recommend it highly.
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