Machiavelli, the Prince, and the Tradition of Liberty
Machiavelli’s succinct and semi-diabolical advice to the prince is one of the most enduring works of political philosophy in the world. This man, writing in a time roughly contemporaneous with the Reformation, was less concerned with seeking the will of God than with winning at all costs. I wrote about him in my book The End of Secularism. He is famous for advising the prince that it is important to appear honest, humane, religious, faithful, and charitable, but that it...