Rating: 
Summary: Lacking in modern day relevance
Review: One word alone drew me to this title...Machiavelli. A word that is now synonymous with deception and deceit, I felt compelled to visit the source and see for myself what Niccolo Machiavelli had to say. Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that "The Prince" is merely a convoluted text with little modern day relevance. Basically, the book is a "how to" guide for being an Italiance prince in the 16th century. Most of the book is quite specific to his set of circumstances. For example he discusses the difference between inheriting a country and acquiring a country by prowess. He talks about the difference between conquering a land with a single ruler as opposed to conquering a land with many rulers. Some statements are blindingly obvious "When you see a minister thinking more of himself than of you, and seeking his own profit in everything he does, such a one will never be a good minister." The text is heavily laced with anecdotes to back up his points. These tales are not really generalisable to modern day times, for example "We have in Italy, the duke of Ferrara; he withstood the assaults of the Venetians in '84 and those of Pop Julius in 1510, for no other reason than his power had been established a long time". The book does contain some pearls of advice - "A prudent ruler cannot, and should not, honour his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist". Machiavelli seems to have been a very pragmatic character and if he were alive today, I suspect he would be the embodiment of anti-poltical correctness. Overall I found the book a very dry read. Try as I might, I found it difficult to extract much that was of modern day relevance. Note that I have read and reviewed the book as a person with little knowledge of Italian history, political science, or other related topics that may help in comprehending this text.
Rating: 
Summary: The perfect guide to personal advancement
Review: Far from being useless, this book is the perfect guide to personal advancement in the world. Niccolo Machiavelli clearly understood the social ladder in his times and fortunetely for us, decided to write a book about it. The same principles can be applied to our times. To anyone who has not yet experienced such a work of art, I highly reccomend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Clearly one of Hitler's inspirations
Review: Keep in mind this is a guidebook written to persuade the ruler of Italy to rejoin his lost land and employ Machiavelli. Published first in 1513 this book has greatly influenced world affair and political strattegy. Summary:One can govern a land if they have the good will of the people, use force to keep on top, and other modes of conquering and ruling in accordance to the logic written in this book.Main Points:One can govern a land if they have the good will of the people, use force to keep on top, and other modes of conquering and ruling in accordance to the logic written in this book.In order to rule an alien country successfully one must not change any laws, taxes or language. Once you have conquered or gained control of a country foreign to your rule many problems arise, although the people for the most part are willing, they will be dissatisfied with change, and then no matter how armed you are, unhappy natives will cause havoc.When a ruler has generously offered to Protect in the name of allies, He can slip in unnoticed on the outskirts of their land and colonize; in essence Machiavelli suggests picking on kids smaller in size. when there is a baron their loyalty is divided, thus barons weaken the ruler... One of Machiavelli's strongest point is the use of arms to control the people. "We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed." This book is boring at times but is the source of ideas for many controversal leaders, including Hitler.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ends Justify the Means
Review: Machiavelli creates principles to which a Princedom should be run which will enable the Prince to be strong in this reign that rival those of the THE ART OF WAR. He covers the state in which a Prince reigns such as that of acquiring new territory and the characteristics of which a Prince should follow if the Prince wishes to remain in power. Machiavelli also outlines the type of arms a Prince should inquire in defending his citizens or in attack of another ruler. Machiavelli covers Italy's current political position of when he was living their and how its faults happened how it can be remedied. Under all his points he leaves the message, that no matter how you came into power, use it wisely and good fortune will be bestoed on you or that the ends justify the means.
I recommend that anyone who wishes to get into the mind of a political and military master mind or just someone looking for a thought provocing book should read this because it is not to be taken lightly. Although he is writing of political positions in the 1500s most of the points he makes can still be useful today however not all because of the invention of chemical and nuclear warfare and internet which has opened the world into a new dimension.
Rating:
Summary: The Prince
Review: The Prince by Machiavelli is not about a "prince" but about principles that a ruler, a king, a president, a prince should follow or manipulate to maintain and keep his kingdom or country. Machiavelli's famous treatise is one of the central texts in the history of political thought and a basic foundation to all principles dealing with "How to rule an acquired or inherited kingdom/country," how to be an effective ruler, and government politics. This book is a response to the florentine politics of Machiavelli's time and to the genre of advice-books for princes. Underneath the generalities of his principles, Machiavelli leaves a sense of admonishment to the ruler and the reader alike.
This treatise was written based on his experience as second Chancery and secretary to the main foreign relations committee of the republic, the so-called Ten of War. His writing style lacks verbosity and florid eloquence; Instead, there is a lucid string of concise words in a coherent and cogent order. The brevity and understatements of his general statements makes it very easy for the reader to follow. In every chapter, he states his thesis for a certain principle and gives examples to prove his point. The principles address important issues such as how to win over people, nobles, and soldiers; accomplish political ambitions and necessities by force or fraud, how to be loved and feared by the people, eliminate those with and without power who can possibly harm the ruler, how to make the government agree with the ruler, when to be austere or munificient, how to establish and maintain loyalty, when to build fortresses and how to build alliances and friendships with other kings and kingdoms. This book will not only instruct the ruler how to be a prince and a good one, but also how to maintain oneself as a ruler over people whose hearts can quickly shift contrary to the ruler.
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Summary: Piece of trash!
Review: this book is the most confusing & stupid book i have ever read! i had to finish it thought because my teacher made us do a book review on it! i hate this book i wish it would die!
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not a business book
Review: I read The Prince because, like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, it is often listed as a worthwhile book about management. Well, I found it reasonably interesting (as was the case with The Art of War), but in the context of history or political science, not in the context of management. In fact, it has very little, if anything, to do with management, except for one or two ideas regarding matters like people management and vigilance in times of good fortune. Machiavelli is an early proponent of realpolitik, and some of his ideas are, to put it mildly, ethically dubious if viewed from a business/management perspective. I would think that the last thing the major Western economies need at this point are (more) Machiavellian managers! I enjoyed the foreword to the edition I read, which I think is the Wordsworth edition, not the one listed here. It sets out nicely the context within which Machiavelli wrote the book without being too detailed.
Rating:
Summary: Prince Review
Review: The work called Prince is an account by Machiavelli about how to hold and reign as a prince. The put in short the goals of the prince are: win friends, overcome by force or fraud, make yourself loved and feared by the people, be followed and admired by his soldiers, eliminate those with the power or reason to hurt you, change from the old ways to your new order of things, be strict and generous as required, destroy disloyal soldiers, establish loyal soldiers, have friends in princes and kings that help you with enthusiasm, and are careful not to differ from you. Analysis: On the way to staying as a prince one most have his own army. The author goes on about this subject for about five chapters. I agree that the prince needs his own army and must not rely on mercenaries and auxiliary forces. The problem with that is that the mercenaries do not want to fight for you. If you hire twenty thousand mercenaries before the war then you have to pay and feed them for sitting on their buts. Thus when the war starts there is no mercenary to be found. Mercs like to get paid but not fight. While if you go with auxiliary forces then you rely on the foreign help. That always comes with a price because you may become dependent on their help and thus indebted to a foreign king. Also it is not wise to mix forces because your army may become dependant on foreign help and without them they could never win. The best option is to have a standing army of your own.
In medieval times the greatest mistake any prince made was to be neutral in a war. When a war breaks out between two sides you should not take the middle ground because that will win you not power. What should be done is for you to join one side of the war. The choice is only in deciding which power do you want to support. For if that is not done then whoever is the winner will try next to seize your kingdom. You become fair game for the winner of the conflict. Thus if you support one side and that side wins then that side will be indebted to you for the help you have given. Even if you are on the losing side then you can still help them reclaim their glory and thus gain a foothold into their realm. The prince wins either way and in doing so he will make money and will gain an ally in the process. Nowhere has it been said that a prince must rule in good grace. A prince must rule his kingdom as the situation dictates. For if the people respect the prince than one must rule with virtue. The other option is to rule through fear but the problem lies that in doing so one must not cause hatred to arise within the people. For if the people fear and hate you at the same time then they will try to rebel against your rule. This is sound advice because a prince must hold his power through anyway possible. Thus good and evil are both choices for the prince to employ when ruling his loyal or not so loyal subjects. The prince must not listen to his moral self because to do that he will pave a path to his own downfall.
The book is an excellent account of how to reign as a prince back in those times. The only disadvantage lies in that it does not apply to modern times.
Rating:
Summary: Skeptical pragmatism at its best
Review: The contemporary notion of the state, one devoid of a moral imperative would be impossible to conceive of, were it not for Niccolò Machiavelli. Leo Tolstoy wrote that "if we assume, as the historians do, that great men lead humanity towards the attainment of certain ends...it becomes impossible to explain the phenomena of history without introducing the concepts of chance and genius." When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary of Florence and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. As a matter of chance, the person who held the aforementioned office was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who, suddenly finding himself out of a job after 14 years of patriotic service, proceeded to write The Prince. While being a matter of chance, sheer genius and incredible foresight accompany The Prince. A result of the growing tension between the Church and the rise of a secularized state, Machiavelli's work has made a substantial contribution to modern political thought.
Rating:
Summary: Transference
Review: I found the cogent thoughts and concepts given in the education of a 16th century prince highly adaptable to the 21st century business environment. Outstanding.
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