2.19k reviews for:

The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli

3.52 AVERAGE

kristenmneal's review against another edition

2.0

informative slow-paced

tehredblur's review against another edition

5.0

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

rowanmaeve's review against another edition

1.75

challenging informative medium-paced

library_of_alexandra's review against another edition

2.0

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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

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"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

cosmic_donkey's review against another edition

2.0

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Machiavelli prioritised strategy over compassion for people's lives. It's a very cynical approach to the world. Obviously this book wasn't meant for me, but it is important and I understand why it's in the Penguin Great Ideas series. 

melisahebe's review against another edition

3.75

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

laurabrbt's review against another edition

3.5

informative reflective slow-paced