Just Finished Reading: Machiavelli – A Man Misunderstood by Michael White
After reading his less than informative biography of Leonardo I wasn’t expecting much from this further foray into Renaissance Italian history. I was, however, rather surprised to find this a much superior work. Although I am interested in the period (as I am in other ‘Periods of Transition’) I admit that my knowledge of it is largely shallow and fleeting. I certainly know more now.
Dealing with the turbulent times from the end of the end of the 15th Century into beginning of the 16th White’s book follows Niccolo Machievelli’s life as he rose to prominence in the Florentine Government then crashed to Earth as his fate changed for the worse. Fortunately for the world – or not depending on your point of view – during this exile he penned his greatest works amongst which were The Prince and Discourses which both discussed politics in often graphic and uncompromising detail. Despite using examples from antiquity (or maybe because of that) as well as personal experience of diplomatic missions to some of the most infamous politicians and religious leaders in the medieval world, Machiavelli produced timeless classics that can still be read for insight 500 years later.
This volume didn’t change my opinion of Machiavelli (which was its clearly stated aim) for the reason that I had hardly formed an opinion of the man – except one of admiration of his unblushing acceptance of human nature – so the book ‘failed’ in that respect. However, I am now certainly more informed about the fascinating, if somewhat bizarre and chaotic, history of Renaissance Italy and its relationship with the rest of Europe. The Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance can, I think, teach us a great deal about the multi-polar world we are moving into and the works of Machiavelli deserve study for that reason. I actually have several copies of The Prince which I tried, and failed, to read in my youth. Maybe I’ll appreciate it now that I’m a bit more mature and a lot more cynical. I will, of course, review it here when I finally do get around to reading it.
3 comments:
It's been 20 years since I've read the Prince. I actually own it, so maybe I'll give it another read.
Too often it's taken as a political "how-to" manual instead of a satire or cautionary tale, as it was probably intended.
dbackdad said: Too often it's taken as a political "how-to" manual instead of a satire or cautionary tale, as it was probably intended.
It's my understanding that it was indeed a political "how-to" manual and was intended as such.
Mission accomplished, then.
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