The Rope and the Chains: Machiavelli's Early Thought and Its Transformations

Niccolò Machiavelli was a famous political author who served as a civil administrator in Florence. He wrote The Prince after being incarcerated and tortured. His pre-Prince texts show his conventional thought and dissatisfaction with the intellectual worldview. Once liberated, he "became" Machiavelli.

Format: Hardback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 15 May 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

Niccolò Machiavelli, a renowned and controversial political author in the history of Western political thought, is best known for his influential book, "The Prince." However, before penning this notorious treatise, Machiavelli had a distinguished career as a prominent and active civil administrator in the government of the Republic of Florence. Serving for fourteen years, he was removed from office in 1512 after a takeover by the Medici dynasty, which had ruled the city for much of the fifteenth century. Despite being incarcerated and tortured on unfounded accusations of involvement in a coup plot, Machiavelli managed to compose "The Prince," widely regarded as the beginning of his career as a political theorist, comic playwright, poet, and military analyst.

While Machiavelli's fame rests primarily on "The Prince," his extensive body of writings, encompassing prose, poetry, diplomatic correspondence, and personal correspondence, has received relatively limited attention. In his groundbreaking work, "The Rope and the Chains," author John R. Bolton delves into the neglected pre-Prince texts to provide a fresh interpretation of Machiavelli's thought. The book reveals that Machiavelli's pre-Prince ideas were largely conventional in his time, yet it also highlights his dissatisfaction with the intellectual worldview in which he was enmeshed.

Machiavelli's transformation into the iconic figure known as "Machiavelli" occurred once he liberated himself from the constraints of tradition that had bound him for centuries. His writings, which were often controversial and subversive, challenged the prevailing moral and political norms of his era and paved the way for new approaches to governance and power. Machiavelli's legacy continues to be debated and studied by political scientists, philosophers, and scholars worldwide, as his ideas remain relevant and influential in the contemporary world.

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 160 x 236 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793617248