Given the tumultuous political era in which he lived, Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Italian Renaissance author, philosopher, historian and diplomat, had a front-row seat to observe the political machinations, power struggles and dynastic changes in Renaissance Europe. He would compile these observations in "The Prince," which would swiftly gain a reputation both as a simple treatise on how to achieve and wield political power as well as an immoral, by-the-numbers account of how tyrants can seize and maintain dictatorships.

As a result of the teachings in this book, Machiavelli's very name has become an adjective - "Machiavellian" - that has come to denote political deception, cold-blooded calculation and the use of treachery as a means to seize power.

It is presented here in its original and unabridged format, translated from the Italian by Luigi Ricci.