-Niccolò Machiavelli's brutally uncompromising manual of statecraft- The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. A short treatise on how to acquire power, create a state, and keep it, The Prince represents Machiavelli's effort to provide a guide for political action based on the lessons of history and his own experience. How can a leader be strong and decisive, yet still inspire loyalty in his followers? When is it necessary to break the rules? Is it better to be feared than loved? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machiavelli answers all these questions in a work of realpolitik that still has shrewd political lessons for today. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence, and served the Florentine republic as a secretary and second chancellor, as ambassador and foreign policy-maker.