The PrinceThe claim that Machiavelli was the first modern thinker is out of tune with the latest insights of economic, social, and gender historians, which is why Paul Sonnino has prepared this new, up-to-date edition of Machiavelli's The Prince. In his lucid introduction, Sonnino argues that Machiavelli had much more in common with the late medieval world in which he was living than he did with the modern world that had not yet emerged. It is an argument we need to resolve if we wish to arrive at a definition of modernity. Scrupulously faithful to the wording of the original Italian, Sonnino's translation is extremely daring in its transposition of phrases and clauses, so that the text flows as passionately in English as it does in the original. The authority of this edition is fully supported by its scholarly annotations and its useful maps. Here is the edition of The Prince that finally confronts the myth of Machiavelli's modernity. |
