Written in the early 1500s, The Prince is well known to most of us as a manual for political corruption and a symbol of the underlying dark heart of politics. But to read Machiavelli's slim volume only in this way is merely to scratch the surface of how groundbreaking a book it is. A compelling and multifaceted document, The Prince has gone on to shape subsequent centuries of Western civilization. Its controversial views on power, leadership, ethics, and virtue are still with us. But The Prince is also a work filled with conflicting and tragic ironies. Such complexities make it all the more important to have a complete understanding of what The Prince is really about, what it says (and doesn't say) about political power, and why it ranks as a book that matters to all of us.
Renowned Machiavelli scholar William Landon, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of History and Geography of Northern Kentucky University, brings so much more to the 24 lectures of Books That Matter: The Prince than just a close reading. For those who've already read The Prince, prepare to engage with the text on a deeper level than ever before. And for those who've always wanted to read this important book, this is your introduction to one man's revolutionary beliefs about achieving - and maintaining - power.
Books That Matter: The Prince is your guide to a powerful piece of writing that throws more than 2,000 years of political, religious, and ethical thought straight out the window.
