Just Finished Reading: The Garments of Court and Palace – Machiavelli and the World that He Made by Philip Bobbit (FP: 2013)

Since his works – most especially The Prince – were published in the 16th Century the political theories of Niccolo Machiavelli have been in print ever since. Translated into a host of languages, taught in universities across the globe and treated both as valued assistant and the very spawn of Satan one thing cannot be argued – that this Renaissance figure has had a massive impact on the western world. This is all the more surprising, says the author, as not only have few people read his works but fewer still have understood them.

The Prince – his most recognised work – has, in particular, been misinterpreted and (I must admit) the author of this work makes a series of impressive arguments laying out why. His main thrust is that the book itself is not what it appears to be. It is not (as it is usually advertised) a work instructing a Prince on how to gain and hold power in the ever changing and highly dangerous world of 16th century Italian politics. Although it does contain elements of this it is most certainly not the main thrust. The treatise is aimed squarely at the ‘new Prince’. Not simply one who has recently come into power but the precursor to a completely new type of state – the constitutional republic. The ‘new’ Prince is one who thinks in the ‘new’ way and who has already, or is on the cusp of, turning away from his feudal roots. The book is for him – which is why it seemingly shocked the older-style Prince with its harsh pragmatism and the ability to look reality in the face rather than attempt to see things as they should be in an ideal world. But there is more. There is the historical context to be considered.
At the time he was writing the Italy of Machiavelli consisted of warring city states increasingly at the mercy of the great powers of the day – France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Individual cities, or even cities in temporary alliance, could not hope to stand against these regional superpowers. Only by allying themselves to the great and the good could they hope to survive – but Machiavelli wanted much more than survival: he wanted political independence and saw his advice to new Princes the way forward. Machiavelli, the author maintains, was a many simply ahead of his time. Not only did he foresee the constitutional republican state generations ahead of anyone else he saw such a state as the saviour of Italy. The many misunderstandings of his writings reflect the fact that he was, in effect, writing for future generations and for leaders of states than did not yet exist  but which he would (potentially at least) bring into existence. It’s an interesting idea and one that the author makes a very good case for. Italian political history of that period is both fascinating and deeply disturbing – full of intrigue and frankly alarming characters like Cesare Borgia. When I have the time to at least try to get my head around the twists and turns of that ages diplomatic wrangling’s I’ll give it a go. But that’ll have to wait post-retirement.

Overall I liked this book very much. The author knew his stuff and looked at things from some interesting angles which might actually answer some of the questions raised about Machiavelli and his ideas. From time to time a few faint alarm bells went off – essentially a vague whiff of right-wing thinking – but I just ignored them and read on….. until that is I read the Appendix entitled Machiavelli Today. Here the author made a rather strange observation. He said that Machiavelli stood at the crossroads of a transition between the Feudal State and the more modern Constitutional Republics we all know and love today. Meanwhile in our world we are, at least according to the author of this work, at another political crossroads – this time between the Nation State and the Market State. This Market State defines itself in terms of fostering market expansion to provide a wide range of public goods. Not simply that the Market should be used where it can work best but that the Market IS the system and that government (in its surviving form) has only one function: to ensure that nothing interferes with or disturbs the Market in its operation. So, no Social Security, no State Healthcare, no State education or anything else for that matter. Everything, and the author clearly says EVERYTHING is provided for by the Market. Naturally I disagreed – strongly. Not only would such a system be inhumane it would, necessarily I believe, be very short lived. A full no holds barred Market system would be so horrific that the citizens of any such State would rise up and destroy it before it destroyed them. Personally I would enjoy watching it burn. So, after enjoying this book very much I couldn’t help leaving it with a bad taste in my mouth. I had added a further book from the author to my Amazon Wish List but this has now been removed. But there are plenty more books on a whole host of subjects just waiting to be purchased never fear. Interesting in many ways – just skip the Appendix.           

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.

Just Finished Reading: Leonardo – The First Scientist by Michael White

This was a biography of the great Renaissance genius and polymath Leonardo Da Vinci. Tracing his life from rather humble beginnings as an illegitimate son of a wealthy man to the heights of his powers the book concentrated more on his scientific and technological thoughts rather than on his more well known artistic achievements. It also gave a flavour of the chaotic times he lived though together with the other notables of Renaissance Italy he rubbed shoulders with.

As a fan of Leonardo and the Renaissance I was looking forward to reading this book. I was however rather disappointed by its lack of substance. White freely admits that little is known of Leonardo’s private life but does not let this restrict his speculations regarding it. He draws what I regarded as profound implications from sketchy information and pseudo-scientific psychoanalysis in an attempt to understand Leonardo’s often passionate motivations. I was also disappointed by the lack of analysis of Leonardo’s inventions – such as the parachute and (arguably) the helicopter – as well as the rather wide interpretation of what the profession of science is. Whilst it does indeed appear from Da Vinci’s writings that he had some idea of the scientific method he was also very much a man of his time and although his experimental work did prompt his questioning of received wisdom he often drew the wrong conclusions because of his medieval mind-set. Da Vinci may have been an early proto-scientist but White fails to make the case that he was the ‘first’ scientist. Interesting in parts, but ultimately a rather disappointing book.