Reading Machiavelli

A new reading of Machiavellis major works that demonstrates how he has been previously misread To what extent was Niccol Machiavelli a Machiavellian? Was he an amoral adviser of tyranny or a stalwart partisan of liberty? A neutral technician of power politics or a devout Italian patriot? A reviver of pagan virtue or initiator of modern nihilism? Reading Machiavelli answers these questions through original interpretations of Machiavellis three major political worksThe Prince, Discourses, and Florentine Historiesand demonstrates that a radically democratic populism seeded the Florentines scandalous writings. John McCormick challenges the misguided understandings of Machiavelli set forth by prominent thinkers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and representatives of the Straussian and Cambridge schools, and he emphasizes the fundamental, often unacknowledged elements of a vibrant Machiavellian politics. Advancing fresh readings of Machiavellis work, this book presents a new outlook on how politics should be conceptualized and practiced.