The Prince

By: Niccolò Machiavelli

Narrated by: Nelson Runger

The Prince was the first great work of modern political and historical analysis, but it suffered from a tragic flaw: Machiavelli chose as his "hero" Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, who, unknown to the author, employed murder as one of his tools of statecraft. While Machiavelli had patriotic intentions and praised Borgia for defending his homeland from political, diplomatic, and military attacks, Borgia was unmasked and the Vatican eventually banned the book. The Prince was later studied by Hitler, Stalin, Richelieu, Bismarck, and Frederick the Great.Public Domain (P)1987 Recorded Books

It's Good to be the King

This book is a frank discussion about how to acquire and use political power. The author's discussion of the use of immoral means to achieve this goal brought great changes in political philosophy. .
For Machiavelli the sole goal of the Prince was to obtain power and hold it. Using historical models he sets out the most effective means to attain this end. The nobles and the people were the two forces that held political power in Machiavelli's time. The author discusses the actions the Prince must take to maintain his power over each group. The nobles have their land and soldiers and often their interests are opposed to the goals of The Prince. To maintain his power it is important for the Prince that his subjects fear him rather than love him.
In his discussion on fortresses Machiavelli makes the statement that the best fortress is the love of the people. A state that is prosperous and ruled fairly is the best way to achieve the love of the people. The Prince must also cultivate the love of the people through great achievements building a charisma that draws them to him.
The art of war is a very important part of Machiavelli's discussion. Mercenaries are the most dangerous troops to use. They fight for their own reasons and are only loyal to the Prince as long as he is able to pay them. Auxiliary troops drawn from the people are more likely to remain loyal as long as their love for the Prince is constant.
Machiavelli's ideas inaugurated modern politics and statecraft. He was original and unencumbered by the prevailing morality of the medieval church. Many of his ideas came from Classical Rome and his thinking was very important in the beginning of the Renaissance. The phrase "Machiavellian" came to mean the use of evil means in pursuit of power. His ideas quickly came into wide use. One hundred years after this book was written the leaders in the Thirty Years War were using many of the principles he set forth. Morality no longer governed their actions as they used Machiavelli's ideas to defeat their enemies. Just as Machiavelli predicted mercenary soldiers often ruined kingdoms when the rulers ran out of money to pay them. In today's world the ideas of Machiavelli have become the norm and morality is not allowed to interfere with actions necessary to maintain power.

A timeless classic!

Together with Sun Tzu's Art of War and Plato's Republic, the Prince is the third view of how Power and Fortune should be handled.

Good background on what

Not much plot, but interesting background. Glad I listened to it, but not sure I could recommend it to someone who isn't already interested.

Well, it is famous for being the first ...

I liked this book well enough. I really, really liked Herodotus as a historian, though. Marco Polo did not have much insight into people, though he must have gotten along with them pretty well. I think this book is famous because it was the first accounting of large areas of the world, even for the well-traveled Venitians. Marco Polo found a lot of the people he visited to be either infidels or idolators. Apparently to me, anyway, he thought the infidels to be more advanced than the idolators.

Machiavelli, telling it like it is

A good reading of The Prince. This is the translation by Luigi Ricci, with a revision by E.R.P. Vincent. If you want to follow along with the text this translation is available in "The Prince and The Discourses" w/an introduction by Max Lerner. (The Modern Library, New York). If you listen to Machiavelli and just don't get it, I recommend "Machiavelli on Modern Leadership" by Michael A. Ledeen. He has some modern day Machiavellian examples that may help you grasp some of the concepts/theories.