In On Machiavelli: The Search for Glory, Alan Ryan illuminates the
political and philosophical complexities of the often-reviled
godfather of realpolitik. Thought by some to be the founder of
Italian nationalism, regarded by others to be a reviver of the
Roman Republic as a model for the modern Western world, Machiavelli
remains a contentious figure. Often outraging popular opinion with
his insistence on the amoral nature of power, Machiavelli eschewed
the world as it ought to be in favor of a forthright appraisal of
the one that is. Perhaps more than any other thinker, Machiavelli
has suffered from being taken out of context, and Ryan places him
squarely within his own time and the politics of a Renaissance
Italy riven by near-constant warfare among rival city-states and
the papacy.
A well-educated son of Florence, Machiavelli was originally in
charge of the Florentine Republic s militia, but in 1512 the city
fell to papal forces led by Cardinal Giovanni de Medici, who thus
restored the Medici family to power. Machiavelli was accused of
conspiracy, imprisoned, tortured, and eventually exiled from his
beloved Florence, and it was during this period that he produced
his most famous works. While attempting to ingratiate himself to
the Medicis, the historically minded Machiavelli looked to the
imperial ambitions and past glories of the Roman Republic as a
contrast to the perceived failures of his contemporaries.
For Machiavelli, the hunger for power and glory was inextricable
from human nature, and any serious attempt to rule must take this
into account. In his revolutionary The Prince and Discourses both
excerpted here Machiavelli created the first truly modern analysis
of power."
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