#19 in Politics & society
The Prince
- 176
- Pages
- about 3 h
- Reading time
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Our view
Short, blunt and still unsettling, this treatise describes how power is actually won and kept instead of how it ought to be. Its reputation for cynicism is open to debate: some readers find the argument less wicked than coldly practical, a hard look at politics in a dangerous age. Machiavelli argues from historical examples, most of them Roman or from the Italy of his day. It suits anyone curious about where political realism begins.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat and political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of an instruction guide for new princes. Many commentators have viewed that one of the main themes of The Prince is that immoral acts are sometimes necessary to achieve political glory.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.4 across 783 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 84% of the weight and the score stays at 7.5 — the Politics & society average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.7 | 112 | 14% |
| Google Books | 7.0 | 10 | 1% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 661 | 84% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Prince?
It has 176 pages — shorter than 55% of the ranked books in Politics & society.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Politics & society — with scores between 7.1 and 8.4, closest to this book.
