Political Literature of Europe

Covering Dante to Flaubert, this book examines the hostility in Europe between writers and authority. It demonstrates how great authors conveyed their heterodox views despite censure and severe punishments. Especially interesting is a discussion of Machiavelli's minor works which reveal a man with an unshakable concern for the same themes analyzed in his major treatises, the Prince and Discourses on Livy. Contents: I. Works of Machiavelli. La Mandragola; Castruccio Castracani; Belfagor; Sermon on Penance; Plan to Reform the Government of Florence; II. Response to Machiavelli. Guicciardini: Dialogue on the Government of Florence; Serra: Neglected Herald of the Acquisitive System; Quevcedo: Biography of Brutus; Descartes on Machiavelli; Gracian: The Stateman; Reading Vico Three Times; Montesquieu on Ancient Rome's Religion; III. Other Writings. De Monarchia of Dante: Miracles in Ancient Rome: Boccaccio on Censorship; Fontenelle's Many Worlds; Flaubert against the Enlightenment.