The Prince

Machiavelli sets out to explain how principalities are won, held and lost, and he argues from examples taken from ancient Rome and from the Italy of his own day, above all Cesare Borgia. A prince, he says, must rely on his own soldiers rather than mercenaries, must know when it is safer to be feared than loved, may break his word when keeping it would harm him, and must above all avoid being hated or despised. The last chapter turns from analysis to appeal, urging the Medici to free Italy from foreign armies.

Written in 1513, after Machiavelli had lost his post in Florence and been tortured on suspicion of conspiracy, the book was published only in 1532, five years after his death, and his name became shorthand for cunning statecraft. This is W. K. Marriott's translation of 1908, read by seven LibriVox volunteers in about six hours.