Napoleon, Mussolini, Voltaire, even Mafia man John Gotti – they all read Machiavelli’s The Prince. Philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume and Adam Smith were influenced by it. And the book’s ideas led to the term Machiavellian entering the language. But the influence of The Prince has reached far beyond the world of politics, with business and management gurus applying Machiavelli’s ideas to corporate strategy: what was true for princes then, can be applied by leaders today. Machiavelli himself was a Florentine politician and diplomat who admired and knew Cesare Borgia, and was himself a victim of torture by the Medici family.

Written in the early 16th century, The Prince is a treatise is on how princes can not only best gain, but maintain power. He suggests how princes can avoid being hated but remain being feared by their people, he advocates pragmatic realism against political idealism, he encourages ambition, he defends evil and explains through classical and Renaissance examples which princes are the most successful. Of immense importance to politicians and corporate leaders, The Prince is a classic text richly deserving this exquisite edition.