Machiavelli's Prince
Politics is described as it is practised rather than as it ought to be.
- When
- Known to
- ± 1 year
- Era
- Early Modern, Holocene
Written in 1513 while out of favour, The Prince analyses how power is actually acquired and held, separating that question from whether the methods are virtuous. Whether it is a sincere manual, a satire, or a job application has been argued for five centuries. Its lasting effect is the deliberate separation of political analysis from moral prescription, which is why his name became an adjective.