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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
informative
fast-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
funny
informative
fast-paced
Honestly a pretty funny read, I'm not sure why. Something about reading something like this in the common day and trying to assign its teachings to problems in my own life. Needless to say, if I have to invade a country, it'll be Turkey and not France.
fast-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
After several on and off again attempts at reading this I have finally completed it. With the rise of fear being reintroduced in modern politics it is surprising that this book has not made a resurgence, though fear inflicted haphazardly seems to be an idea this book is throughly against so perhaps that explains it. I don’t think Machiavelli ever pondered rule by tweet.
For all that is discussed of this book I expected it to be more negative in its treatment of power but found this to be much more positive. The key word that I felt was missing was respect, seek respect as you balance between being feared and being loved. How useful this book is is up in air. It very much is a product of its time as it discusses the warring states of Italy but, reading through all that is said about armies and fortresses, there are some interesting ideas on the nature of power and how to retain it.
It’s not the most useful book in the world but given how short it is, it’s worth a read if you want to examine how power is gained and maintained.