Reading Machiavelli: Scandalous Books, Suspect Engagements, and the Virtue of Populist Politics

A new reading of Machiavelli's major works that demonstrates how he has been previously misread

To what extent was Niccol? Machiavelli a "Machiavellian"? Was he an amoral adviser of tyranny or a stalwart partisan of liberty? A neutral technician of power politics or a devout Italian patriot? A reviver of pagan virtue or initiator of modern nihilism? Reading Machiavelli answers these questions through original interpretations of Machiavelli's three major political works--The Prince, Discourses, and Florentine Histories--and demonstrates that a radically democratic populism seeded the Florentine's scandalous writings. John McCormick challenges the misguided understandings of Machiavelli set forth by prominent thinkers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and representatives of the Straussian and Cambridge schools, and he emphasizes the fundamental, often unacknowledged elements of a vibrant Machiavellian politics. Advancing fresh readings of Machiavelli's work, this book presents a new outlook on how politics should be conceptualized and practiced.

Author: John P. McCormick
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 12/15/2020
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.8lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780691211541