About this ebook
Between 1513 and 1525 Niccolò Machiavelli wrote a series of works dealing with political, military, and historical matters. One of these (the 'Arte della guerra') was published in 1521, but the rest of his major writings were not published until 1531-2, nearly five years after his death. They continued to be reissued regularly, well into the early seventeenth century. The popularity of Machiavelli's books, the variety of his themes, the different contexts within which he was studied, the range of readers' interests, and the fact that his name entered the vocabulary of every European language - all make his early reception a fruitful field of enquiry. Historians of ideas have tended to tidy up the past in order to make it comprehensible but Sydney Anglo is concerned with heterogeneity, and with the often irrational and emotional aspects of sixteenth-century thought. Basing his research entirely upon primary sources he quotes extensively in the conviction that, in a battle of words, the words themselves and their tone convey more than summaries of intellectual abstractions. Authors - hostile, enthusiastic, and indifferent - are closely examined; and many different contexts, political and intellectual, are considered. Sometimes Machiavelli was influential, sometimes not, but in this history of his reception, silences often prove significant. Written in a lively and trenchant style, this new interpretation of the impact of Machievalli is an original contribution of high quality by a leading expert in the field of Renaissance studies.
About the author
Sydney Anglo is Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Wales, and was Chairman of the Society for Renaissance Studies 1986-89. His publications includeThe Great Tournament Roll of Westminster; (Clarendon Press, 1968), and Spectacle, Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford-Warburg Studies 1969, new edition 1997), and The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (Yale, 2000 - see sales figures). He is a leading authority in the field of Renaissance studies.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
