Ebook: The Prince

Need to seize a country? Have enemies you must destroy? In this handbook for despots and tyrants, the Renaissance statesman Machiavelli sets forth how to accomplish this and more, while avoiding the awkwardness of becoming generally hated and despised. "Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge." For nearly 500 years, Machiavelli's observations on Realpolitik have shocked and appalled the timid and romantic, and for many his name was equivalent to the devil's own. Yet, The Prince was the first attempt to write of the world of politics as it is, rather than sanctimoniously of how it should be, and thus The Prince remains as honest and relevant today as when Machiavelli first put quill to parchment, and warned the junior statesman to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity. Described as a practical rulebook for the diplomat and a handbook of evil, this work provides an uncompromising picture of the true nature of power.;Letter to Lorenzo de' Medici -- Different kinds of states and how to conquer them -- Hereditary monarchies -- Mixed monarchies -- Conquered by Alexander the Great, the Kingdom of Darius did not rebel against his successors after his death. Why not? -- How to govern cities and states that were previously self-governing -- States won by the new ruler's own forces and abilities -- States won by lucky circumstances and someone else's armed forces -- States won by crime -- Monarchy with public support -- Assessing a state's strength -- Church states -- Different kinds of armies and a consideration of mercenary forces -- Auxiliaries, combined forces and citizen armies -- A ruler and his army -- What men and particularly rulers are praised and blamed for -- Generosity and meanness -- Cruelty and compassion. Whether it is better to be feared or loved -- A ruler and his promises -- Avoiding contempt and hatred -- Whether fortresses and other strategies rulers frequently adopt are useful -- What a ruler should do to win respect -- A ruler's ministers -- Avoiding flatterers -- Why Italian rulers have lost their states -- The role of luck in human affairs, and how to defend against it -- An appeal to conquer Italy and free it from foreign occupation.