Books with title The Baby Prince

Intrigue abounds both on and off the stage in this rollicking mystery set within Shakespeare’s theater company.Kit Glover is London’s finest boy actor. Audiences flock to see him portray imperious queens and scheming noblewomen. But off the stage Kit’s manner is harder to make out. Now cool and disdainful, next fierce and angry, then madcap and bawdy–his personality changes so rapidly and so often that fellow actor Richard is unsure which is the real Kit, or if his true nature is something else again.But Richard is certain of one thing: Kit is involved with some nefarious companions– much like young Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s latest play, Henry IV. And Richard suspects that these low companions are behind a series of crimes that could cost the company its good standing and could cost Kit his head.And so, reluctantly, Richard allows himself to be drawn into the conspiracy to help his rival–this fascinating, infuriating, troubled prince of a boy, teetering on the brink of becoming either a king . . . or a criminal.

“No epitaph can match so great a name,” reads the inscription on Niccolò Machiavelli’s tomb in the church of Santa Croce in Florence. Such praise of the notorious author of The Prince, the “teacher of evil,” according to Leo Strauss, may seem misplaced to those with only a passing knowledge of one of history’s most famous political philosophers and theorists. Ever since Machiavelli penned his 1513 treatise on princely rule and the politics of reality, a work that infamously advises rulers to abandon virtue and morality when necessary, his name has been synonymous with deceit, duplicity and amoral pragmatism. In 1559, the text was unsurprisingly registered to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Catholic Church’s list of banned books, on the grounds of immorality, and Shakespeare dubbed him the “murderous Machiavel” in the 1590s, a mere six decades after his death in 1527. Since then, a sinister reputation has posthumously plagued the controversial Florentine, and the accusation of being “Machiavellian,” an overused and typically misapplied adjective, is a charge of behaving in a cunning, scheming and unscrupulous way. But is this depiction of Machiavelli as wicked and immoral accurate? Like most historical figures, Machiavelli was a creature of his time, and his works have distinct historical identities - written for a particular culture in a particular time. Machiavelli was a public servant during the Republic who lost his office when the Medicis returned to power, yet Machiavelli dedicated The Prince to the ruling Medici of the time, leading many over the centuries to speculate that The Prince was a satire. 20th century French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty went so far as to assert, “Machiavelli is the complete contrary of a machiavellian, since he describes the tricks of power and ‘gives the whole show away.’ The seducer and the politician, who live in the dialectic and have a feeling and instinct for it, try their best to keep it hidden.” . Regardless, The Prince remains one of the most influential political philosophies of history, and Machiavelli himself will forever be associated with the “ends justify the means” philosophy that he wrote about. Either way, understanding the significance of his writings and their place in the history of political theory requires exploring the world in which Machiavelli lived and worked, tracing his diplomatic career, his encounters with some of Italy’s most influential rulers, and the financial desperation and ignominy he suffered in exile from his native city.

An obscure civil servant, dead for nearly 500 years, author of but one major work, yet whose name is still in common use. Remarkable? Not when the civil servant is Nicolo Machiavelli, and when the book is The Prince. Written in 1513 as a gift for the ruling prince, Lorenzo de Medici, The Prince has retained its reputation as one of the most perceptive analyses on politics and power ever written. Valued for its brilliant writing, shrewd psychological insight, canny advice, and prophetic qualities, it has never lost its power to shock and influence, or to illuminate the heart of darkness. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to know the real meaning of "political hardball." Ian Richardson's formidable reading of this unabridged translation is an accessible and entertaining introduction to Machiavelli's truly compelling, eerily prescient worldview.

2013 Reprint of 1935 Oxford University Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This translation by Luigi Ricci was first published by Oxford University Press in 1903 and reprinted continuously for 60 years. "The Prince" is an extended analysis of how to acquire and maintain political power. It includes 26 chapters and an opening dedication to Lorenzo de Medici. The dedication declares Machiavelli's intention to discuss in plain language the conduct of great men and the principles of princely government. He does so in hope of pleasing and enlightening the Medici family. The book's 26 chapters can be divided into four sections: Chapters 1-11 discuss the different types of principalities or states, Chapters 12-14 discuss the different types of armies and the proper conduct of a prince as military leader, Chapters 15-23 discuss the character and behavior of the prince, and Chapters 24-26 discuss Italy's desperate political situation. The final chapter is a plea for the Medici family to supply the prince who will lead Italy out of humiliation. "The Prince" is considered by many to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. Although it is relatively short, the treatise is the most remembered of his works and the one most responsible for bringing the word "Machiavellian" into wide usage as a pejorative term. The descriptions within "The Prince" have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes-such as glory and survival-can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends.

The Prince has long been both praised and reviled for its message of moral relativism and political expediency. Although a large part is devoted to the mechanics of gaining and staying in power, Machiavelli's end purpose is to maintain a just and stable government. He is not ambiguous in stating his belief that committing a small cruelty to avert a larger is not only justifiable but required of a just ruler.Machiavelli gives a vivid portrayal of his world in the chaos and tumult of early-sixteenth-century Florence, Italy, and Europe. He uses both his contemporary political situation and that of the classical period to illustrate his precepts of statecraft.