Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction - Softcover

Skinner, Quentin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192854070 ISBN 13: 9780192854070

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil that good may come of it. Offering the first brief introduction to Machiavelli's thought to appear in twenty-five years, Skinner focuses on his three major works, The Prince, Discourses, and The History of Florence. He discusses the influence of Roman moral thought on Machiavelli, concentrating on the extent to which Machiavelli's teachings represent a reaction against this tradition. Placing Machiavelli in the proper social and intellectual context, Skinner reveals the extraordinary originality of his attack on the prevailing moral and political assumptions of his age.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

About this title

About the Author:

Quentin Skinner is Professor of Political Science at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ's College. His The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, published in 1978, won a Wolfson Literary Award.

Review:

"[An] excellent brief study, incorporating much recent research effectively without losing the author's own distinctive viewpoint. Lucidly written. A fine contribution."--Marcia L. Colish, Oberlin College

"An exceptionally lucid biographical sketch and analysis of Machiavelli's ideology. For beginning students of this subject, I have never found anything better."--James E. McGoldrick, Cedarville College

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0192854070
• ISBN 13: 9780192854070
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128