Florentine Histories: Newly Translated Edition

by Niccolò Machiavelli, Laura F. Banfield (Translator), Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. (Translator)

Overview

The description for this book, Florentine Histories, will be forthcoming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691212869
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a diplomat, politician, and philosopher of the Italian Renaissance. Modern political philosophy and political science is founded on Machiavelli's writings. He served for many years as a senior official in the Florentine Republic with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. When the Medicis came to power, he was imprisoned and then retired to the writing of his works of political philosophy.

Introduction

From the Introduction

In Florentine History Machiavelli wrote about his native city, which he loved with a passion — more than his soul, he said — and by which he was exasperated. He was not just the famously cold, ironic analyst of ruthless power politics, evident in much of his most famous work, The Prince; he had a fervent sense of the common good and how that might be achieved in a republic. For him, Florence had the potential to be one of the greatest of republics, a match for ancient Rome itself, but that potential had never been fulfilled. In the Florentine History is a series of eight essays (known as 'books') on the city and its Italian context during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. They do not follow all the rules of what we see today as professional historical writing — Machiavelli journalist — but they are the fruit of one of the most original minds ever to have been brought to bear on politics.

Editorial Reviews

"Banfield and Mansfield's new rendition of the Renaissance humanist's study of Florentine history aims to supply contemporary readers with a literal, exact, and readable version of the original. . . . Machiavelli's concept of history and his purpose in charting the story of Florence and its leading families are thoroughly examined before the translators lead their readers into the substance of the social philosopher's arguments and into a work of literature that once again comes alive."

Booklist

"This translation . . . of Machiavelli's thoughts on his native city is meant to be less colloquial and closer to the original than the typical translation. This highlights how Machiavelli used words (and thought) differently from us. . . . Machiavelli is too often remembered merely as the realist who took the morality out of ‘virtue.' As the Histories demonstrate, he was also a gifted writer and historian."

Virginia Quarterly Review

"Banfield and Mansfield's new rendition of the Renaissance humanist's study of Florentine history aims to supply contemporary readers with a literal, exact, and readable version of the original. . . . Machiavelli's concept of history and his purpose in charting the story of Florence and its leading families are thoroughly examined before the translators lead their readers into the substance of the social philosopher's arguments and into a work of literature that once again comes alive."

Booklist

"This translation . . . of Machiavelli's thoughts on his native city is meant to be less colloquial and closer to the original than the typical translation. This highlights how Machiavelli used words (and thought) differently from us. . . . Machiavelli is too often remembered merely as the realist who took the morality out of 'virtue.' As the Histories demonstrate, he was also a gifted writer and historian."--Virginia Quarterly Review

"Banfield and Mansfield's new rendition of the Renaissance humanist's study of Florentine history aims to supply contemporary readers with a literal, exact, and readable version of the original. . . . Machiavelli's concept of history and his purpose in charting the story of Florence and its leading families are thoroughly examined before the translators lead their readers into the substance of the social philosopher's arguments and into a work of literature that once again comes alive."--Booklist

From the Publisher