Length4h 56m
About this audiobook
What is more crucial for a leader: to be loved, or to be feared? Is it better to keep one’s word, or to manipulate, deceive, and force others to comply? Written in exile after a life immersed in the volatile politics of Renaissance Italy, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince is the world’s most infamous—and misunderstood—handbook of power.
Stripping away the lofty ideals of traditional political philosophy, Machiavelli examines power with ruthless, clear-eyed pragmatism. He argues that for a ruler seeking to found a state and secure his reign, the ends do justify the means. Cruelty can be more merciful than weakness; cunning and deception are often wiser than honor; and the appearance of virtue is frequently more vital than virtue itself.
More than five centuries after its publication, this slim, explosive volume remains shockingly relevant. It has shaped the strategies of emperors and CEOs, inspired admiration and revulsion, and given us the enduring term “Machiavellian.” Whether read as a cynical prescription for tyranny or a sober, factual analysis of how power is truly won and held, The Prince is an indispensable, provocative guide to the nature of leadership, ambition, and realpolitik.
Audiobook details
GenrePolitics and Government, Biography and Memoir, Philosophy
Length4 hrs 56 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1DEDICATION
16CHAPTER XV — CONCERNING THINGS FOR WHICH MEN, AND ESPECIALLY PRINCES, ARE PRAISED OR BLAMED
2CHAPTER I — HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED
17CHAPTER XVI — CONCERNING LIBERALITY AND MEANNESS
3CHAPTER II — CONCERNING HEREDITARY PRINCIPALITIES
18CHAPTER XVII — CONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY, AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVED THAN FEARED
4CHAPTER III — CONCERNING MIXED PRINCIPALITIES
19CHAPTER XVIII(*) — CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITH
5CHAPTER IV — WHY THE KINGDOM OF DARIUS, CONQUERED BY ALEXANDER, DID NOT REBEL AGAINST THE SUCCESSORS OF ALEXANDER AT HIS DEATH
20CHAPTER XIX — THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED
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6CHAPTER V — CONCERNING THE WAY TO GOVERN CITIES OR PRINCIPALITIES WHICH LIVED UNDER THEIR OWN LAWS BEFORE THEY WERE ANNEXED
21CHAPTER XX — ARE FORTRESSES, AND MANY OTHER THINGS TO WHICH PRINCES OFTEN RESORT, ADVANTAGEOUS OR HURTFUL?
7CHAPTER VI — CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED BY ONE'S OWN ARMS AND ABILITY
22CHAPTER XXI — HOW A PRINCE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF SO AS TO GAIN RENOWN
8CHAPTER VII — CONCERNING NEW PRINCIPALITIES WHICH ARE ACQUIRED EITHER BY THE ARMS OF OTHERS OR BY GOOD FORTUNE
23CHAPTER XXII — CONCERNING THE SECRETARIES OF PRINCES
9CHAPTER VIII — CONCERNING THOSE WHO HAVE OBTAINED A PRINCIPALITY BY WICKEDNESS
24CHAPTER XXIII — HOW FLATTERERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED
10CHAPTER IX — CONCERNING A CIVIL PRINCIPALITY
25CHAPTER XXIV — WHY THE PRINCES OF ITALY HAVE LOST THEIR STATES
11CHAPTER X — CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH THE STRENGTH OF ALL PRINCIPALITIES OUGHT TO BE MEASURED
26CHAPTER XXV — WHAT FORTUNE CAN EFFECT IN HUMAN AFFAIRS AND HOW TO WITHSTAND HER
12CHAPTER XI — CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIES
27CHAPTER XXVI — AN EXHORTATION TO LIBERATE ITALY FROM THE BARBARIANS
13CHAPTER XII — HOW MANY KINDS OF SOLDIERY THERE ARE, AND CONCERNING MERCENARIES
28DESCRIPTION OF THE METHODS ADOPTED BY THE DUKE VALENTINO WHEN MURDERING VITELLOZZO VITELLI, OLIVEROTTO DA FERMO, THE SIGNOR PAGOLO, AND THE DUKE DI GRAVINA ORSINI
14CHAPTER XIII — CONCERNING AUXILIARIES, MIXED SOLDIERY, AND ONE'S OWN
29THE LIFE OF CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI OF LUCCA
15CHAPTER XIV — THAT WHICH CONCERNS A PRINCE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE ART OF WAR
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