Niccolo Machiavelli - The Prince book review

In a nutshell (140 pages), this is a book that Machiavelli wrote while in exile to gain the favor of those currently in power. It was a gift. Rather than taking his time to sulk or to plan a retaliation (coup) he used his time to compile his decades of political experience. This in itself goes against the common allegation against the author. He believed in building and strengthening relationships before resorting to treachery or violence. Yes, he did believe violence was a tool, but he preferred to avoid it.

What I got out of it

This is almost the original "How to Make Friends and Influence People". Except at the time competitors wouldn't just try to destroy your reputation, they very well might try to assassinate you. This wasn't a metaphor in the politics of his time. The advice he gives is primarily solid advice on how to gain trust, and be trustworthy as well as to strengthen relationships and to try and assure that you know who your allies are. These are skills any pacifist or strategist would appreciate.

What was difficult

The reality for the majority of us is that we can hardly imagine someone competing for a promotion to actually, physically, with a real knife stab us in the back. So, while it's not overwhelming, it's important to remember he didn't write this in a time of strong courts and local police detectives. And he didn't believe in losing.

Recommendation

Keep an open mind, drop the misleading narrative that Machiavelli was purely evil, and go through the short book thoughtfully. Try and see how the lessons from his life and his era can translate to ours. You'll quickly see that you can. As a small bonus, you'll see in the future just how many people speak of Machiavelli, or evoke his name falsely trying to appear well-read. Similar to how people talk about the novel 1984, though they clearly don't know much about the book.