Description
Based on On Politics, Alan Ryan's "monumental new history of political philosophy" (The Economist).
For his insistence on the amoral character of successful government, Machiavelli remains a contentious figure. Often reviled as a teacher of evil, Machiavelli’s influence on the modern state is explored in this book.
In On Machiavelli, Alan Ryan illuminates the political and philosophical complexities of the godfather of realpolitik. Often outraging popular opinion, Machiavelli eschewed the world as it ought to be in favour of a forthright appraisal of the one that is. Thought by some to be the founder of Italian nationalism, regarded by others to be a reviver of the Roman Republic, Machiavelli has suffered from being taken out of context. Placing him squareley in his own time, this essential, comprehensive and accessible guide to Machiavelli’s life and works includes a new introduction by Ryan.
Also By: Alan Ryan 
On Politics: A History of Political Thought: From Herodotus to the Present
Paperback, 2020
Finally in a one-volume paperback edition, On Politics is one of the most ambitious and hugely readable histories of political philosophy in nearly a century.
On Augustine: The Two Cities
Paperback, 2015
No philosopher speaks more immediately to the excesses of our twenty-first-century world and the limits of human reason than Augustine.
On Hobbes: Escaping the War of All Against All
Paperback, 2015
Hobbes created the first truly modern political philosophy.
On Hobbes: Escaping the War of All Against All
E Book, 2015
Hobbes created the first truly modern political philosophy.
On Augustine: The Two Cities
E Book, 2015
No philosopher speaks more immediately to the excesses of our twenty-first-century world and the limits of human reason than Augustine.
