The Prince Audiobook (Free)

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is conducted by Simon Callow, actor and driector, known for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love, and the BBC adaptation of the Christmas Carol. This definitive documenting includes an Launch by Tim Parks.

Like a diplomat in turbulent fifteenth-century Florence, Niccolò Machiavelli knew how quickly political fortunes could rise and fall. The Prince, his tough-minded, pragmatic handbook on what power really works, produced about The Prince his name notorious and provides remained controversial since. How can a leader be solid and decisive, but still inspire devotion in his followers? When must you break the guidelines? Is it easier to become feared than treasured? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machievalli answers each one of these questions in a function of realpolitik that still provides shrewd politics lessons for today.

Tim Parks’s acclaimed contemporary translation makes Machiavelli’s no-nonsense first as alarming and enlightening as when it had been initial written. His launch discusses Machiavelli’s existence and reputation, and explores the historic background to the task.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was created in Florence, and served the Florentine republic being a secretary and second chancellor, as ambassador and international policy-maker. When the Medici family members came back to power in 1512 he was suspected of conspiracy, imprisoned and tortured and forced to retire from public life. His most well-known work, The Prince, was created so that they can gain favour using the Medicis and go back to politics.

If you enjoyed The Prince, you may like Plato’s Republic, also obtainable in Penguin Classics.

‘A gripping work, and a gripping translation’

Nicholas Lezard, Guardian

‘Tim Parks’s swift and supple brand-new translation brings out all its chilling modernity’

Boyd Tonkin, Independent