The Prince (Donno Translation)

The original political action handbook

Many Americans do not understand the motives and actions of the politicians whom they elect. The voters have expectations, but they fail to appreciate that the politicians have personal and professional agendas. THE PRINCE rips the curtain away to expose the true motivations of politicians, whether a "progressive" agenda of Barak Obama, the "left-wing liberal" bias of Nancy Pelosi, the "tea party conservative" blurts of Sarah Palin, or the vague agendas of the smilingly attractive and apparently patriotic and caring (but otherwise unknown) candidates for local school board. Despots aren't made; they're chosen. Leaders aren't born; they're made. Followers aren't created; they're the people who give away their rights and responsibilities to others who offer to think and choose for them. Machiavelli didn't invent the rules; he simply observed the rise and dominance of the most powerful family in Italian history and shared their secrets with posterity. Truth is truth, whether it describes Renaissance Venice during the time of great painters and corrupt popes or Washington DC during the time of vapid platitudes and bloated bureaucracies. EVERY management, business, political science, sociology, psychology, and education major should read this book before completing their sophomore year; otherwise, they'll miss the opportunity to manipulate minds effectively during their junior and senior years...and beyond. Because it predates the hollow pretext of "political correctness" and such laughable conceits as "unity through diversity," THE PRINCE explains what true power is, how to achieve it, how to wrest it from others and wield it effectively, and how to gain more of it at the expense of stupid people who haven't read Machiavelli. The author presumes "the why" is simple: having power beats the alternative.

22 out of 28 people found this review helpful.

AP World History Book Review: a description of my opinion of the book

I am a student that read this book, The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. I believe that this book is great for people that want to be a leader sometime in life or history buffs that want to learn more about leadership. I would not reccomend this to people that either just want a book to read to pass time or people that are not interested in the subject. I personally thought this book was good because I enjoy historical texts. Last year in my regular world history class, we read an excerpt from this book (or at least a form of this book) and I found it very interesting how Machiavelli included things such as poetic devices to incorporate with things like leadership. In case anyone doesn't know, this book was written during the Renaissance time period.
Back to a point of mine made earlier, I wouldn't reccomend this to some people just because people like to complain about the length of books and that the book was boring. That would be the case with this book. I thought it was good, but honestly I was pretty bored with it after periods of reading. But we have to remember that historical texts like this were written back when times were peaceful to where now we have books about the world ending so there is a distinct difference between the two. All in all, I liked this book but it definately wasn't one of my favorites.

13 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

Ashlee, a student at The Gereau Center

The Prince is a very long "how to" essay written by Machiavelli and addressed to Lorenzo de'Medici. It was designed to help Lorenzo, a prince, rule his country. The essay has also been looked at by government officials, whether they be princes or presidents or congressmen, around the world to help with the governing of their state or country. The book has many literary devices in it, but the most notable of them are: descriptive chapter titles, allusions, and the metaphors. Machiavelli titles his chapters so they describe the very thing that the chapters will entail. It's almost as if you can read just the title of the chapter and feel like you could tell someone exactly what the chapter is about. For example, the chapter title, "Of Cruelty and Mercy, and Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared, or the Contrary." Machiavelli also uses allusion to explain the point he is making in whichever chapter he is making the point in. He makes points and then supports them with someone who has done the opposite or the same as the point he is making. He does this to express the validity of his beliefs of ruling. He refers to Alexander the Great and Ceaser. Machiavelli also includes metaphors all throughout the book. For example, "Thus, whoever examines minutely the actions of this man will find him a very fierce lion and a very astute fox."I don't personally have a favorite or worst part of the book because I didn't really enjoy reading any part of the book. However there are many valid points concerning leadership in the book.

7 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

He wasn't evil

The truth is I thought that this book was surprisingly not as chilling as some have made it out to be, for example, I realize that when invading befriending the weak to take down the ruler but keeping those weak powers weak is by no means a nice thing to do. But in the end I saw this book as.... optimistic maybe. One thing he said stuck with me that a great ruler(one to go down in history) is not a tyrant who increases his nations size for personal gain but for the country itself. That was on my first reading, I'll reread it and maybe with more understanding I will find it as chilling as it is made out to be.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

AP World History book review of the Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli is a great overall book for people interested in the often violent means that political power is seized, kept, and lost. This book greatly portrays the leadership of leaders in the Renaissance time period and describes hereditary principalities, which are inherited by the leader. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who either aren't interesting in politics or the Renaissance time period. Also if you like reading really long books than this definitely is not one for you. Overall in my mind this was a great historical classic and I recommend it.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Classic work

A easy reading and fluid translation of a classic work.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pardon me, but would you have any political realism?

Apropos of his best-known role as the conniving British prime ministerial candidate in House of Cards, Ian Richardson is the perfect reader for the quintessential manual of Realpolitik. The urbane authority he brings to this reading is nearly musical and the perfect complement to Machiavelli's ornate rhetoric. <BR/><BR/>For most Americans, Richardson is best known for his inquiries about the availability of Grey Poupon and after hearing this wonderful narration, I don't believe that anyone could resist giving him some mustard if he asked.

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Death in a Book

If you are looking for a way to torture your children, making them read this book is the best advice I can give you. This book was torture reading. The vocabulary was hard for me to understand, along with the many concepts he had on how to be a successful prince. It's not a very long book but when I read it, it seemed like it would never end. He repeats the same concept over and over in different ways, making it harder to understand. Also, the way he writes is very confusing. I do not recommend this book at all, unless you enjoy reading, history, and a challenge.

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

The prince

I first picked up this title because some of my friends had said that it was absolutely horrible, and I wanted to prove that I could read this. But after the fifth page, I was bored out of my mind. This book should change its title to, 'The worst book ever!!!' Reading this book is like reading a how to rule the world for dummies. Even the spark notes for this book was better. Basically this is just a horrible book and no one should torture themselves to read it. I would not let anyone read this book even if they are bored out of their minds.

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended - Specially for those in pursuit of power and influence

It is a rather dense reading however it still distilles with genius the ways a person in a position of power has to execute to remain and progress ahead.

Despite the time since it was written, it is a very useful reference full with working knowledege taken from those in power at the time.

It also becomes even more important to those not having that level of influence or power and having a crave towards getting some since the display of tactics are well explained.

A fair time to read it may be a couple of weeks including taking notes aside to rethink and fathom the roots and branches of the knowledge inside.

A great "sequel" would be something like "Machiavelli in Action" or so.

Extremely disappointed - not suggested for academic use

While this e-book was wonderfully translated, it lacked a lot of information about Empress Theodora. When trying to find bountiful information about her, I implore you to not buy this e-book.

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good version

Had to read this book for school. Not my favorite book, but should you wish to read the classic, this is definitely the best FREE version out there.

Seth here

Hay mag i think i got locked out

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Chelsea

Im here. What u wanna talk about?

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

SETH TALEXO TO CHELSE

Hay i am here are u

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

TO"WOW"

What is wrong with reading about politics . Everyone should have the right to have at least basic political knowledge. To learn about the great minds of the prince.
SETH SORON

Wow

Who in the world would want to read about politics!:(
Welll maby if their INSANE!!!!!

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

I love it

To long

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

AP World History Review I thought that this book was a very good

AP World History Review
I thought that this book was a very good book.
This book linked the things that we were going over in history class now. 
I learned a lot about the middle ages while reading this book. 
I learned about the military tactics and how a ruler should rule his kingdom while reading this book.  
This book was very insightful with helping me learn about the middle ages.  

This book really focused on the credentials that a good ruler in the middle ages is suppose to have.
Machiavelli talks about four things in his book.
He talks about the types of principalities, the types of armies, the character and behavior of a good ruler, and how all of these affected Italy.
This is a good book for people who are into the middle ages.
It is also good for people who like to learn about certain types of history, as in the middle ages.
I really learned through this book that a ruler in the middle ages has to be like a dictator in the world today.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think that other history buffs will like this book also. 

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

AP World History Review: A Crazy Man and his Dreams The Prince,

AP World History Review: A Crazy Man and his Dreams
The Prince, written by Niccolo Machiavelli, is a novel dedicated to instructing a prince on how to run his country. For the most part, the novel speaks of how a ruler should act and appear. Machiavelli states that a ruler should appear generous and caring, when instead he should be a treacherous maniac with a motive to keep his power. Although the book at first seems to be directed towards all rulers, nearing the end, it seems to be intended specifically towards Italy and its broken government. It seems Machiavelli is trying to instruct a specific individual, Lorenzo de’ Medici, on how to be a suitable leader for his people. In the final chapter of the book, Machiavelli states that Lorenzo is Italy’s only hope.
If the proposed motive for the book stated above is correct, I believe Machiavelli successfully laid out a suitable infrastructure for Italy’s new government. His methods for maintaining power may be cruel and immoral, and he did also provide other, more virtuous, proposals. However, he did insist using the evil methods, with which I highly disagree. Overall, I would not recommend this book, mainly due to my boredom throughout the read. However, for those interested in the layout of government, the book should be interesting and, perhaps, fantastic.