CHAPTER I The setting for this book is in 1512 with the fall of Rome. The first chapter is titled "The kinds of principalities and the means by which they are acquired," because this is the first chapter and in order to understand the book you need to understand the most basic and ...

For close to five hundred years, the name Niccolo Machiavelli has held a place in history and in philosophy that has been hotly debated for centuries. Some say that Machiavelli is the true statesman and his books hold the key to the most efficient form of governing, while others call him a barbaric ...

Practically nothing is known of Nicolo Machiavelli before he became a minorofficial in the Florentine Government. His youth, however, was passedduring some of the most tumultuous years in the history of Florence. He wasborn the year that Lorenzo the Magnificent came to power, subverting thetraditi...