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Machiavelli
A Portrait
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Christopher S. Celenza
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2015
About this book
The man whose name is shorthand for all that is ugly in politics was more nuanced than his reputation suggests. Christopher Celenza’s portrait of Machiavelli removes the varnish to reveal not just the hardnosed philosopher but the skilled diplomat, learned commentator on ancient history, comic playwright, tireless letter writer, and thwarted lover.
Author / Editor information
Celenza Christopher :
Christopher S. Celenza is Chairman of the Classics Department and Charles Homer Haskins Professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Reviews
Machiavellian. The very word calls up images of plots, daggers and devious minds. Christopher Celenza separates the man from the melodrama.
-- Steven Carroll Sydney Morning Herald
-- Steven Carroll Sydney Morning Herald
Both readable and trustworthy.
-- Steve Donoghue Open Letters Monthly
-- Steve Donoghue Open Letters Monthly
Demonstrates how Machiavelli’s thoughts on conflict and leadership are relevant to today’s political world.
-- L. B. Gimelli Choice
-- L. B. Gimelli Choice
A brief, erudite exposition of the Florentine secretary’s mores and intentions. In this accessible work, Celenza explores why Machiavelli’s The Prince continues to enthrall readers and how the author’s other, less-well-known works, such as his comedies, can help enrich the way we understand him…A compelling portrait of the life of a man ‘subject to and involved in history, who believed…that by interpreting the past sagely, one could act more fruitfully in the present.’
-- Kirkus Reviews
-- Kirkus Reviews
By setting the author of The Prince in his historical context, Christopher Celenza captures the brilliance, risk-taking, danger, and sheer exuberant delight of the Italian Renaissance. With particular sensitivity to the precise nuances of Machiavelli’s language, Celenza enables us to seize upon what continues to be relevant in his work to our own time and place.
-- Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
-- Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Celenza’s Machiavelli is a man passionately engaged in history, a scholar of the past whose interests run from the remote annals of ancient Rome to the tormented chronicles of early modern Italy, and an unflaggingly committed participant in the events of his own time. The result is a singularly humane portrait of a wise man making his way through what was often a cruel, chaotic world.
-- Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame
-- Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame
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Frontmatter
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Contents
vii -
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Prologue
1 -
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1. Renaissance, Conspiracies, Bonfires
4 -
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2. Highs and Lows
31 -
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3. Interlude
57 -
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4. The Prince
65 -
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5. Conversing with the Ancients: Th e Discourses
102 -
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6. The Comedy of Life: Letters and Plays, Wives and Lovers
134 -
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7. History
160 -
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8. Ghosts
190 -
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Notes
213 -
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Bibliography
227 -
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Acknowledgments
233 -
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Index
235
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 24, 2015
eBook ISBN:
9780674425194
Edition:
Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries only
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
256
eBook ISBN:
9780674425194
Audience(s) for this book
General/trade;
