Prince by Sir Niccolo Machiavelli - Book Report/Review Example

“Calling Machiavelli “a master of manipulation would not be far fetched, even if his methods may seem almost trivial. It is quite possible that the conversational voice is not a manipulative tactic at all, but it could be that his writings were for himself and he was expressing his internal thoughts on paper” (Christie para. 3). The authoritative voice is demonstrated through out the book. Another very noticeable quality of the book is the elevated language that it uses, it is certainly a book which is intellectually simulating and is of magnificent eloquence.

“Niccolo wrote The Prince at a time when the Italian politics was marred with blackmail, violence and conflict. In The Prince, Niccolo gives advice on how to be an effective and successful ruler and how to stay in power. The book was written as a practical guide to rulers that uses a simple and straightforward description in order to provide easily understandable advice” (Niccolo Machiavelli & The Prince para. 7). He is of the view that, “a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated” (Niccolo Machiavelli & The Prince).

The Prince was groundbreaking because Niccolo described the world as he saw it. At Niccolo’s time period, any idea of freewill was very uncommon. Most other writers and thinkers considered almost everything beyond human powers. They associated almost all unanswerable events to divinity and destiny while Niccolo’s theories have their basis that the ruler must base his political policies on people’s true nature. As, the writer and publisher, Rodney Ohebsion has to say, “In The Prince, Niccolo acknowledges the existence of two factors that play a role in determining success: Virtu, which can be described as skill, prowess, wisdom,