Machiavelli: A Portrait

Christopher S. Celenza

Feb 2015 · Harvard University Press

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“Explores why . . . The Prince . . . continues to enthrall readers and . . . can help enrich the way we understand [the statesman]. . . . A compelling portrait” (Kirkus Reviews).

The man whose name is shorthand for all that is ugly in politics was more nuanced than his reputation suggests. Christopher Celenza’s portrait of Machiavelli removes the varnish to reveal not just the hardnosed philosopher but the skilled diplomat, learned commentator on ancient history, comic playwright, tireless letter writer, and thwarted lover.

“Machiavellian. The very word calls up images of plots, daggers and devious minds. Christopher Celenza separates the man from the melodrama.” —Sydney Morning Herald

“Both readable and trustworthy.” —Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

“Demonstrates how Machiavelli’s thoughts on conflict and leadership are relevant to today’s political world.” —Choice

“By setting the author of The Prince in his historical context, Christopher Celenza captures the brilliance, risk-taking, danger, and sheer exuberant delight of the Italian Renaissance . . . Celenza enables us to seize upon what continues to be relevant in [Machiavelli’s] work to our own time and place.” —Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

“Celenza’s Machiavelli is a man passionately engaged in history, a scholar of the past whose interests run from the remote annals of ancient Rome to the tormented chronicles of early modern Italy, and an unflaggingly committed participant in the events of his own time. The result is a singularly humane portrait of a wise man making his way through what was often a cruel, chaotic world.” —Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame

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Christopher S. Celenza is Chair of the Classics Department and Charles Homer Haskins Professor at Johns Hopkins University.