El Príncep (1513)

2below: Each one is fascinating in its own right but I think reading both (or reading them concurrently, as I did) provides an interesting perspective on two seemingly opposed extremes.

timoroso: Guicciardini, a friend and colleague of Machiavelli, wrote a book of maxims sometimes profound in themselves, other times interesting to compare to Machiavelli's opinions. The subject matter for both is essentially the same: how to act in a politically and ethically thoroughly unstable world.… (més)

MeisterPfriem: Münkler discusses and places Machiavelli in the context of the political and economic realities facing Florence in the second half of the 15th century as well as within the intellectual history of political thought from Antiquity and Medieval ages. This is an immensely thorough work. Published in 1982 it takes into consideration all important relevant literature .… (més)

Ciruelo: Really. Both are classic studies in the workings of power.