The Prince

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The Prince

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

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About this listen

From his perspective in Renaissance Italy, Machiavelli's aim in this classic work was to resolve conflict with the ruling prince, Lorenzo de Medici. Machiavelli based his insights on the way people really are rather than an ideal of how they should be. This is the world's most famous master plan for seizing and holding power. Astonishing in its candor The Prince even today remains a disturbingly realistic and prophetic work on what it takes to be a prince, a king, or a president. When Machiavelli was removed from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic. The Prince he envisioned would be unencumbered by ordinary ethical and moral values. Even today, this sixteenth-century classic has become essential listening for every student of government, and is the ultimate audiobook on power politics.

Public Domain (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Classics

World

Inspiring

Leadership

Thought-Provoking

Fiction

Middle Ages

Italy

Biography

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There are very few princes left in the world. I would estimate a couple of hundred at most. Even fewer have their own principalities. When Machiavelli wrote this book in the early 16th century, the world was a different place. Italy was not unified and consisted of several disparate city states and principalities, as did much of the rest of Europe. This is an advice book for princes as to how to rule their territories including handy household tips as to how to undertake conquests, how to avoid flatterers and how cruel you should be (very is the answer, otherwise a prince will not have respect). You might think that this is about as useful in the 21st Century as an operating manual for a Betamax video recorder. And you'd be right. To an extent. Leaderships skills are, of course, relevant to anyone in a position of authority whether that be a prince, or a president or a business leader or head teacher. Machiavelli didn't spawn the term Machiavellian by being Mr Nice Guy though and this has come to mean that any means justifies the end to make sure a ruler stays in power and the term is now widely used as an insult, especially when describing politicians. That is not to say that Machiavelli exclusively advocated tyranny as a form of control, in fact some of the advice in The Prince is sensible and poignant eg “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him” and my favourite “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” Although this is a relatively short book at less than 5 hours including an excellent introduction (nearly an hour) setting the context of how and when it was written, some of it is a bit heavy going. If I were to listen again I would probably chop the last three chapters that describe in details why the princes of Italy lost their states and the last chapter Exhortation to Seize Italy and to Free Her from the Barbarians which I don't mind saying, left me baffled and confused.