The Prince

Machiavelli's best-known book, Il Principe, contains a number of maxims concerning politics, but rather than the more traditional subject of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a "new prince". To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully maintain the sociopolitical institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his newfound power in order to build an enduring political...