Machiavelli /
Machiavelli is history's most startling political commentator. Recent interpreters have minimised his originality, but this book restores his radicalism. Robert Black shows a clear development in Machiavelli's thought. In his most subversive works The Prince, the Discourses on Livy, The As...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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London :
Routledge, Taylor and Francis,
2013.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
Table of Contents:
- Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; About the author; Publisher's acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Editions, citations and translations; Preface; PART ONE Machiavelli and Florence; 1 Florence and the Machiavelli family; 2 Early life, education and first writings; 3 Chancery career: Machiavelli and Florentine politics; 4 The chancery years: diplomatic activities and literary production; Diplomacy; Chancery writings and private correspondence; Poetry; PART TWO The voice of experience; 5 The Prince: context; Interregnum; Dismissal, imprisonment, torture and release.
- Waiting for something to turn upThe correspondence with Vettori; Aims and setting; Contents and genesis; Date; Discontinuities; 6 The Prince: message and meaning; The environment of politics; The purpose of politics; Virtus, virtù and the virtues; Forces beyond reason; Ancient and modern examples; Machiavelli in The Prince: constitutional monarchist? Visionary or realist?; Dénouement; PART THREE The return to classical humanism; 7 The Discourses: context; 1515-1519: personal frustrations and the Second Decade; The Discourses: date and genesis; The Rucellai gardens and the Discourses.
- 8 The Discourses: meaning and significanceScope and aims; The Discourses and The Prince: core ideas; The Discourses: developing views; New directions; A new political vocabulary?; The Discourses and The Prince: the lessons of ancient history; The Prince and the Discourses: two contradictory texts?; PART FOUR Man of letters; 9 Poetry, theatre, narrative; The Ass; Mandragola; Belfagor, Serenata, On Occasion; Discourse on Our Language; Clizia; PART FIVE The return to diplomacy and public service; 10 Politics and history; The Art of War; The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca; Later constitutional writingsFlorentine Histories; 11 The diplomat and adviser to princes reborn; The correspondence with Guicciardini; The diplomat recalled; The public servant reinstated; The last literary productions; The end; Bibliography; Notes; Index.