The Prince: The Original Classic

Dedication. I Of the Various Kinds of Princedom, and of the Ways in Which They Are Acquired. II Of Hereditary Princedoms. III Of Mixed Princedoms. IV Why the Kingdom of Darius, Conquered by Alexander, Did Not, on Alexander's Death, Rebel Against His Successors. V How Cities or Provinces Which Before Their Acquisition Have Lived Under Their Own Laws Are To Be Governed. VI Of New Princedoms Which a Prince Acquires With His Own Arms and by Merit. VII Of New Princedoms Acquired By the Aid of Others and By Good Fortune. VIII Of Those Who By Their Crimes Come to Be Princes. IX Of the Civil Princedom. X How the Strength of All Princedoms Should Be Measured. XI Of Ecclesiastical Princedoms. XII How Many Different Kinds of Soldiers There Are, and of Mercenaries. XIII Of Auxiliary, Mixed, and National Arms. XIV Of the Duty of a Prince In Respect of Military Affairs. XV Of the Qualities In Respect of Which Men, and Most of all Princes, Are Praised or Blamed. XVI Of Liberality and Miserliness. XVII Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better To Be Loved or Feared. XVIII How Princes Should Keep Faith. XIX That a Prince Should Seek to Escape Contempt and Hatred. XX Whether Fortresses, and Certain Other Expedients to Which Princes Often Have Recourse, are Profitable or Hurtful. XXI How a Prince Should Bear Himself So As to Acquire Reputation. XXII Of the Secretaries of Princes. XXIII That Flatterers Should Be Shunned. XXIV Why the Princes of Italy Have Lost Their States. XXV What Fortune Can Effect in Human Affairs, and How She May Be Withstood. XXVI An Exhortation to Liberate Italy from the Barbarians.

Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher and writer, and is considered one of the founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat and civil servant in the Florentine Republic in the sixteenth century, until arrested for conspiracy in 1513 after which he gave his time to writing.
 
Tom Butler-Bowdon is the author of five bestselling books on classic self-help and motivational writing. He has been described by USA Today as "a true scholar of this type of literature."
 
His first book, 50 Self-Help Classics, won the 2004 Benjamin Franklin award. www.butler-bowdon.com