Unlikely Prince : The Life and Times of Niccolo Machiavelli

by Capponi, Niccolo

• ISBN13: 9780306817564
• ISBN10: 030681756X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-29
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

Machiavelli jumped on the opportunity to ingratiate himself with the city's ruler and wrote an introductory letter to accompany the booklet he had written two years before, switching the dedication from Giuliano to Lorenzo. Possibly with Francesco Vettori's help, he managed to secure an audience with Lorenzo to give him the booklet in person. But adverse fortune had not yet abandoned him, for when Niccol presented his work, Lorenzo showed no interest in it, being taken instead by a brace of dogs being offered by another postulant. Machiavelli stormed out in a range and afterward allegedly told his friends "that his book would give his revenge."... On a previous occasion Machiavelli had expressed the fear that his work might be ignored, and now, at Lady Luck's dinner table, the only things left for him to eat were sour grapes. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Niccolò Capponi is an eminent military and Renaissance historian. He is a former fellow at the Medici Archive Project, and curator of the Capponi Archive. He lives in Florence, Italy.

Table of Contents

Notes on Terminology	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Prologue	p. 1
Grasping, Envious, and Proud	p. 5
Worse than a Crime	p. 19
Warfare and Statecraft	p. 37
Two Funerals and a Wedding	p. 55
Be My Valentine	p. 67
Hollow Words	p. 81
A Most Beautiful Thing	p. 105
The Armed Prophet	p. 129
Council and Conciliation	p. 155
The Night Pier Soderini Died	p. 171
Satan's Progeny	p. 197
The Bystander's Grin	p. 225
A History of Lies	p. 239
Fortune's Fickleness	p. 255
Lost Opportunities	p. 271
Epilogue: Name-Calling	p. 297
Source Notes	p. 307
Index	p. 321
Illustrations follow page	p. 160
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