Reviews - The Prince | The StoryGraph

2.18k reviews for:

My professor thinks Machiavelli gets a bad rep, and I'll agree that he's not as horrible as people like to believe, but he's not great. He still casually recommends killing swathes of the population if politically viable. I'll leave it to others to find reasons why Machiavelli is salvageable. For me, Rousseau's argument that this book "is a book for Republicans" and a way to "protect oneself against despots" falls a bit flat. If even one person uses this book to justify their cruelty, I'm not sure Machiavelli was being as subversive as he could have been.

PS. The dude is sexist as hell - surprise, surprise.

canoner's review against another edition

1.5

slow-paced

sugar_popppp's review against another edition

5.0

"A political manual that redefines leadership with pragmatism and strategy." But it's not boring so yeah definitely a 5/5 read.

nachoszsalsa's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark tense

athos's review against another edition

2.0

Machiavelli prioritised strategy over compassion for people's lives. It's a very cynical approach to the world, and it explains why it's 'red flag' if you see a man reading this book. Obviously this book wasn't meant for me, but it is important and I understand why it's in the Penguin Great Ideas series. Also I'm playing AC Brotherhood for the first time, and I really don't trust Machiavelli in it lol.