Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli's masterwork is back in a new translation, enriched with the first full in-depth commentary in more than 100 years and a long introduction by the leading Italian expert - who is also a prizewinning fiction writer. The text is accompanied by 75 original maps, graphs, and diagrams especially conceived to familiarize today's readers with Machiavelli's thought in an original "visual guide." For over 500 years, The Prince has been a sort of mirror in which the Western mind is constantly reflected, projecting the anxieties, obsessions, and hopes of its readers onto Machiavelli. Yet, this global success has come at a considerable price, for The Prince, read through these self-serving agendas, often has been deeply misunderstood. To avoid these manipulations, Gabriele Pedullà's 200-page introduction and extensive commentary to Machiavelli's text focus on Renaissance social practices and everyday beliefs, in an unprecedented historicizing effort that subverts the traditional interpretations. In so doing, Pedullà's edition finally succeeds in freeing The Prince from the prejudices that have accumulated over half a millennium and transforms it into a "fresh" work: ready to nourish the political fights of tomorrow.