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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page book review of Mauzio Viroli's 2000 biography of Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince. No other sources are cited.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KL9_khmachibio.rtf
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some of the texts principal themes and how well the reviewer feels that Viroli accomplished his objectives in this volume. Summary of the Book There is a legend
that Machiavelli, just prior to his death on June 21, 1527, had a detailed dream in which he met two groups of men traveling on a road. The first group
of men were poorly dressed and when Machiavelli asked them their identity and where they were going, they replied that they were the "saintly and blessed" and on their way
to heaven; the second group, which was well-attired, identified themselves as the damned and that they were on their way to hell (Viroli, 2000, p. 3). In the
second group, Machiavelli recognized famous historians and philosophers from antiquity. Machiavelli consequently opinioned that he would rather be in hell with the interesting people than in heaven with the saintly
but boring. The story may be apocryphal, but author Viroli uses it as a means of introducing his readers to his subject, Niccolo Machiavelli, as he feels that the story
is typical of Machiavellis humor and perspective on life. Machiavelli is, of course, the late fifteenth/early sixteenth century political theorist whose thoughts and observations on political power, how to obtain
it and hold it, are equated in contemporary society with the most ruthless of dictatorship, that is, leadership that is characterized by lies, duplicity and cunning. In this biography,
Viroli endeavors to offer readers a different perspective on Machiavelli, one that shows the Renaissance writer as "mischievous, irreverent (and) gifted with a subtle intelligence" and interested in all aspects
of life, as well as what constitutes effective governance (Viroli, 2000, p. 4). The author maintains that Machiavellis vision of effective government relied on the perception that the character of
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