MACHIAVELLI: A Dissection

by Sydney Anglo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 8, 1970

Any competent critique is bound to diminish Machiavelli's reputation as a diabolical, original, prescriptive or profound thinker. This first-rate study does much more. After a sketch of his formative political experience, it reviews the major works and correspondence, demolishing interpretations based solely on the Discourses and The Prince, exhibiting a fresh, intimate understanding of the period as well as the sources and purposes of Machiavelli's writings. Further chapters analyze style, modes of argument, and key concepts. Anglo succeeds in sorting essential and novel elements from the inessential and conventional; he turns Machiavelli inside out without pedantry or speculative excess. His Machiavelli is neither amoral nor philosophical. An unsystematic thinker who ""obviously"" never formulated a theory of the state, his strength was observation rather than a proto-science of politics. And despite his refutations of the universal ethical deductions of contemporary ""prince literature,"" he sustained a ""deeply-rooted morality."" The author, whose Reception of Machiavelli in Tudor England is forthcoming, lectures in intellectual history at Swansea. The book makes delightful reading for a principally academic audience.

Pub Date: April 8, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION