The Prince

2009 Reprint of the original 1532 edition. Paperback. 106pp. Il Principe (The Prince) is a political treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Originally called De Principatibus (About Principalities), it was originally written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. It was not translated into English until 1636. The treatise is not representative of the work published during his lifetime, but it is the most remembered, and the work responsible for bringing "Machiavellian" into wide usage as a pejorative term. It has also been suggested by some critics that the piece is, in fact, a satire. The Prince's contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political Realism and political Idealism. Niccolò Machiavelli's best-known book exposits and describes the arts with which a ruling Prince can maintain control of his realm. It concentrates on the New Prince, under the presumption that a Hereditary Prince has an easier task in ruling, since the people are accustomed to him. To retain power, the Hereditary Prince must carefully maintain the socio-political institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a New Prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his new-found power in order to build an enduring political structure. That requires the Prince being a public figure above reproach, whilst privately acting amorally to achieve State goals. The examples are those princes who most successfully obtain and maintain power, drawn from his observations as a Florentine diplomat, and his ancient history readings; thus, the Latin phrases and Classic examples.