Free eBooks The Prince (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) Available To Downloads
A new series of beautiful hardcover nonfiction classics, with covers designed by Coralie Bickford-SmithWorld-changing ideas meet eye-catching design: the best titles of the extraordinarily successful Great Ideas series are now packaged in Coralie Bickford-Smith’s distinctive, award-winning covers. Whether on a well-curated shelf or in your back pocket, these timeless works of philosophical, political, and psychological thought are absolute must-haves for book collectors as well as design enthusiasts.As a diplomat in turbulent fifteenth-century Florence, Niccolò Machiavelli knew how quickly political fortunes could rise and fall. The Prince, his tough-minded, pragmatic handbook on how power really works, made his name notorious and has remained controversial ever since. How can a leader be strong and decisive, yet still inspire loyalty in his followers? When is it necessary to break the rules? Is it better to be feared than loved? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machievalli answers all these questions in a work of realpolitik that still has shrewd political lessons for modern times. Tim Parks's acclaimed contemporary translation renders Machiavelli's pointed original into language that feels as alarming and enlightening as when it was first written. His introduction discusses Machiavelli's life and reputation, and explores the historical background to the work.For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Series: A Penguin Classics Hardcover
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics; Tra edition (April 28, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0141395877
ISBN-13: 978-0141395876
Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 0.9 x 7.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (865 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #12,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #27 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Elections & Political Process > Leadership #28 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Political #80 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Political Science > History & Theory
The idea of "reviewing" this is more than a little silly -- it's arguably the most influential non-religious work of all time -- but I thought a few comments & historical notes might still be worthwhile."The Prince" was essentially the first work of political realism in Western thought -- the first work of Western political philosophy that concerned itself not with the ideal government (as Plato had done in his _Republic_) but with the practical realities of getting and holding power. To describe the impact and influence of that willingness, that first notion that conventional morality might not be the best guide to success, would be as impossible a task as trying to summarize the influence of Galileo. Napoleon is rumored to have written extensive annotations to this book; Stalin allegedly kept a copy on his nightstand. Half of Shakespeare's villains (Iago, Richard III, etc.) derive their character in whole or part from this text.Most of this book is extraordinarily controversial, even today, yet still fundamentally difficult to argue against; there's a reason the Catholic Church kept it on the _Index Librorum Prohibitorum_ for centuries. If you're looking for food for thought, it's here.This particular kindle edition is fairly good; the text is cleanly presented with few typographical or scanning errors, and the translator has clearly made a significant effort to present the text as accurately as possible in a modern translation, with several footnotes detailing possible alternate translations of particular words, etc.
There are two good reasons to read Machiavelli's classic, "The Prince."First, so you'll know what everyone is referring to when you come across the adjective "machiavellian" in news stories or other media. This adjective has become so commonplace (and overused) it is almost a cliche. Also, most who use it have never read this letter from Machiavelli, a Rennaisance courtier to his Prince (written from prison), but they insist on peppering writings with this noun turned adjective so much that as a matter of clearly understanding what is meant by the term, famiality with this brief treatise is helpful.Second, this book does describe most (not all) power situations very well. From politics to corporations to most settings where advancement, influence and control exist, Machiavelli's observations and rules apply.You will also discover that Machiavelli was not as evil as he is understood to be in popular thought. What he was doing was describing the rules of the game that have existed and always will exist for many situations involving selfish humans in competition. Machiavelli's rules are neither good nor bad in themselves -- they describe a process. What is good or bad is how those who master Machiavelli's rules use their power and position, in a society that tempers actions according to law and basic Judeo-Christian principals. When those principals do not exist (as in Nazi Germany, the Middle Ages or under Communism, or by those who refuse to live by these constraints), Machiavelli's rules take on their demonic and evil cloak; usually because they serve demonic and evil ends. In societies where positive constraints exist, for example the U.S. political system, Machiavellian behavior can produce excellent results.
This review is of the (currently free) Kindle edition of The Prince.As others have stated at much greater length and with far greater eloquence, this is one of the most important books of political thought and philosophy ever written, and a truly timeless classic. As such, the fact that it's available for free on Kindle makes this a terrific deal, worth every single penny and many more. All the usual conveniences of Kindle applies here: very fast to download via Whispernet, the handiness of being able to annotate and highlight important passages, bookmarking pages you want to reference again later, etc. The slickness of the Kindle format and capabilities plus the inherit worthiness of the book itself easily nets 4 stars.It's been about forever since I last read The Prince, plus I don't really know anything about Italian, so I'm not really fit to talk about the quality of the translation. Suffice it to say that it's a fairly easy book to read and make sense of, but again I can't speak to how true this particular edition is to its source material.Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this edition of The Prince that need to be mentioned, and which in the end detract a little from the overall score. The first and biggest is in the formatting of the book.
Prince's Gambit: Captive Prince Book Two (The Captive Prince Trilogy) The Prince (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency Captive Prince: Book One of the Captive Prince Trilogy The Prince (Penguin Classics) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) Three Russian Fairy Tales: Tsar Saltan; A Fisherman and a Little Fish; The Golden Cockerel (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) The Odyssey (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) The Jungle Books (A Penguin Classics Hardcover) The South Beach Diet Supercharged Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life [2008 Hardcover] Arthur Agatston MD (Author) Joseph Signorile PhD (Author)The South Beach Diet Supercharged Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life [2008 Hardcover] The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English (Penguin Classics) The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry (Penguin Classics) Penguin Classics Fear and Trembling: Dialectical Lyric By Johannes De Silentio (Penguin Pocket Hardbacks) The Penguin Arthur Miller: Collected Plays (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) The Penguin Book of the Undead: Fifteen Hundred Years of Supernatural Encounters (Penguin Classics) The Prince (Xist Classics) THE PRINCE (Wisehouse Classics Edition) The Prince (Hackett Classics) Modern Classics Journeys End (Modern Classics (Penguin)) Little Black Classics Box Set (Penguin Little Black Classics)
