The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli · 1532 · Politics & Society
Full text · 27 chaptersNarrated in your voice
Public domain · added by Library
What it's about
The book that gave us the adjective. Machiavelli set out to describe how power is actually taken and held rather than how a virtuous ruler ought to behave, and five centuries of readers have been arguing about whether that is realism or something worse.
Reading plan
Pick a finish date and Genius lays out the days — the plan shows today's target and keeps you honest.
Read together
Start a circle and share the code — everyone sees everyone's honest place in the book. Accountability, not leaderboards.
Who it's for
- Anyone who wants to understand power as it is practised - Readers of political history - Anyone who has only ever heard the book's reputation
What’s inside
Showing the first 24 of 27 chapters — open the book for the rest.
What readers say
Read next
The Federalist PapersHamilton, Madison, and JayFull book
LeviathanThomas HobbesFull book
EvictedMatthew DesmondSummary11 min
Why Nations FailDaron Acemoglu and James A. RobinsonSummary14 min
Prisoners of GeographyTim MarshallSummary11 min
Nickel and DimedBarbara EhrenreichSummary13 min