Throwback book review: The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Previously reviewed: 27 July 2017
Rating: 2.5/5

Now here’s a book that’s got some history and influence attached to it. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is one of those texts that’s referenced when talking about leadership, and there are some significant people in history (and in the current age…) that have referenced this book as something they have read and refer to multiple times.

But, let me get this straight, this may not necessarily be a good thing.

I read The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli as part of a university subject back in 2017, and then published a review on the previous version of TaleInferno about it. And, because I’ve been listening to the Midnights album by Taylor Swift recently, I thought this would be a good book to start my Throwback Book Reviews.
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A quick disclaimer: I’m not a historian. Also, I note that this is a translated text—you’ll see that the version of this book I have is a Penguin Books variety published in 2011 and translated by George Bull. Every translation is different. Some translators rewrite the text to be about a Ruler, not a Prince. Some quotations will also be different, which can lead to different connotations. However, the main points generally stay the same.

Why the reference to Taylor Swift? If you didn’t know, there’s a particular lyric in her song Mastermind which refers to Machiavelli:

“And I swear I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘cause I care”

What does it mean to be Machiavellian? A quick type into Google and you’ll get a definition along the lines of it being an adjective to mean cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous.

And, if you haven’t guessed it yet, to be Machiavellian is inspired by the author himself, Niccolò Machiavelli, and this particular text.
Let’s go back to when this book was written, and I’ll be honest right at the forefront: I’m no historian. This is based off my memory from what I was taught way back in 2017, so excuse any inaccuracies with the following summary of the context of this text. 

It was written in the 16th century to advise Lorenzo de Medici on how to rule over his people in an attempt to get out of prison.
You see, Machiavelli was a politician and a diplomat during the renaissance, and during his time in this position he communicated and advised a lot of officials. He was regarded to have a strong knowledge on politics and leadership.

However, he wanted to align himself with who was deemed the ‘stronger’ family of the time. This wasn’t the de Medici’s to him, but the Borgias. While this may have been the case for a blip of time, much to his mistake, the de Medici’s regained their position a few years later and Machiavelli was imprisoned and tortured.
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And so, The Prince was born as an attempt to get back into the good books of the de Medici’s as a way to advise Lorenzo on his leadership.

Fast-forward to today and The Prince is still a text read by many leaders for advice, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what advice they’re taking and how they interpret it. It’s one of the most translated texts in the world and people still talk about it.

This book is infamous for its radical ideas, and many people are torn by the advice that is given.  But, don’t fret if you haven’t heard of it before. There’s every chance you’ve heard a quotation or concepts from this book, or you’ve listened to Mastermind by Taylor Swift.

This isn’t a fictional tale. It’s more like a pamphlet or a long essay, like a dissertation. Machiavelli even references examples of leadership from his time and before like we would for our University or College essays now, except they didn’t have the Harvard Referencing System back then.

All Machiavelli is really doing is writing to persuade Lorenzo that he is a valuable asset in politics, and weaves in some good ol’ flattery while he’s at it. But here’s the kicker: I’m pretty sure Lorenzo de Medici didn’t even read it.

In The Prince, there are 26 sections (or chapters) that cover different aspects of leadership. The first 11 are about the different kinds of principalities and what Machiavelli thinks of them.

Sections 12-14 focus on the military and warfare, and how a Prince needs to be educated in different kinds of militia.

The rest of the book focuses on the qualities a Prince should have, how they should act, and what to look out for. 

And, while this book is intended to advise a Prince and was written hundreds of years ago, there are leaders today who read this text and have been able to make the advice relevant for the modern times. We also see concepts from this text adapted for modern storytelling, such as film and music.

I’ll highlight two examples of this:

1) When attempting to lead, making others powerful will destroy you
This comes from the following quotations:

• Men must either be pampered or crushed, because they can get revenge for small injuries but not for grievous ones
• Whoever is responsible for another’s becoming powerful ruins himself

While I’m sure you get the gist, what Machiavelli is stating is that when it comes to leadership, the leaders who came before and their associates should be cut from their positions as to not regain their control. And, a leader needs to be careful in the power they give to others.

2) It is better to be feared than loved
This is a very well-known concept that has been included and adapted into a lot of forms of storytelling, and is usually something the villain of said story would say or emulate.

The quotation for this in the book is:

It is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.

Machiavelli states that a person is far less likely to turn their back on you in fear of punishment than if they love you, and that a Prince can control fear but not love. Therefore, a Prince should only rely on what he can control.

So, yeah, two polarising and manipulative types of leadership concepts in this book. I don’t know about you, but for me, I look at those things as what not to do. But, hey, I never claimed to be a leader, or a very good one at that. However, I'm not sure we would describe those who take these two particular learnings as what they should do as a leader as good leaders either.
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Other concepts included in this text are being able to judge a Prince by who they surround themselves with, the dangers of having enemies within your walls, and that a Prince should recognise that they won’t please everyone.

So, what did I like? Look, I read this book many years ago, and I can still remember the struggle I had reading through this. However, there were some things I didn’t mind.

It’s cool to see some of the concepts in this book and identify that they have been adapted or weaved into other stories. However, a lot of those concepts are portrayed by villains and antagonists of stories, so that also says a lot about said concepts.

With that in mind, there are some concepts that are covered in this book that aren’t super manipulative or unscrupulous that I liked and could consider from a leadership perspective. Some of those concepts were the ones about being able to control one’s destiny if they have the right means, attitude and people surrounding them, and the importance of surrounding oneself with people who add to your life rather than bring you down.

I did also like the contradiction of Machiavelli flattering Lorenzo at the beginning of the text, and then later writes about the folly of listening to flatterers.

And, on a side note and not related to this text at all, but I also really like that Machiavelli is a character in the Assassin’s Creed video game series. I remember jumping on that game and doing the ‘Leonardo DiCaprio pointing finger’ meme when Machiavelli appeared. I’ll eventually get around to doing a story analysis playthrough of that game series, and we can meet the man himself.

But, what didn’t I like? As you can expect from something like an essay, it’s written in a very formal language and there is just so much information and so many pages where there’s limited paragraph breaks and it hurts my eyes.

It’s also not the type of book I reach for to read for pleasure. And, there’s only so much I can read about leadership which is clearly corrupt, tyrannical, and all those lovely words, without rolling my eyes and shaking my head.

It’s a tough one to read, and I wouldn’t read it again. Hence the throwback review—while I’ve still got the book, my eyes are not going to be reading its pages again.

I also don’t endorse the messages and learnings in this book. I think there are far better modern-day texts on leadership we can use to support our leadership journeys.

Anyway, to wrap up this first throwback book review, The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli still continues to be infamous for its radical ideas and is the influence for many leaders and storytelling adaptations. However, it’s not for me.

What are your thoughts on this one? Are there pieces of advice or concepts in this book you think are positive for leadership? What concepts have stuck with you since reading this book, or coming across references from it? Let me know in the comments!

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