Prince (Mansfield Translation) » (2nd Edition)

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence. He served the Florentine republic as secretary and second chancellor, but was expelled from public life when the Medici family returned to power in 1512. His other works include The Discourses, The Art of War, and the comic satire The Mandrake.

The book has been variously described as the first to analyze the role of the political elite; as the one that established the independence of politics from theology; as an early formulation of the political 'myth' required to galvanize apolitical masses into revolutionary action; as a practical rule-book containing timeless precepts for the diplomat; and, most frequently, as the handbook of evil. Based upon Machiavelli's firsthand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe, The Prince analyzes the often-violent means by which political power is seized and retained, and the circumstances in which it is lost. Above all, it provides a remarkably uncompromising picture of the true nature of power, no matter in what era or by whom it is exercised.

Introduction
A Note on the Translation
Chronology
Map
The Prince
Dedicatory Letter
I: How Many Are the Kinds of Principalities and in What Modes They Are Acquired
II: Of Hereditary Principalities
III: Of Mixed Principalities
IV: Why the Kingdom of Darius Which Alexander Seized Did Not Rebel from His Successors after Alexander's Death
V: How Cities or Principalities Which Lived by Their Own Laws before They Were Occupied Should Be Administered
VI: Of New Principalities That Are Acquired through One's Own Arms and Virtue
VII: Of New Principalities That Are Acquired by Others' Arms and Fortune
VIII: Of Those Who Have Attained a Principality through Crimes
IX: Of the Civil Principality
X: In What Mode the Forces of All Principalities Should Be Measured
XI: Of Ecclesiastical Principalities
XII: How Many Kinds of Military There Are and Concerning Mercenary Soldiers
XIII: Of Auxiliary, Mixed, and One's Own Soldiers
XIV: What a Prince Should Do Regarding the Military
XV: Of Those Things for Which Men and Especially Princes Are Praised or Blamed
XVI: Of Liberality and Parsimony
XVII: Of Cruelty and Mercy, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than Feared, or the Contrary
XVIII: In What Mode Faith Should Be Kept by Princes
XIX: Of Avoiding Contempt and Hatred
XX: Whether Fortresses and Many Other Things Which Are Made and Done by Princes Every Day Are Useful or Useless
XXI: What a Prince Should Do to Be Held in Esteem
XXII: Of Those Whom Princes Have as Secretaries
XXIII: In What Mode FlatterersAre to Be Avoided
XXIV: Why the Princes of Italy Have Lost Their States
XXV: How Much Fortune Can Do in Human Affairs, and in What Mode It May Be Opposed
XXVI: Exhortation to Seize Italy and to Free Her from the Barbarians
App: Machiavelli's Letter of December 10, 1513
Glossary
Bibliography
Index of Proper Names