“If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”

-- Niccolo Machiavelli

Famous (or infamous) for his quote "the ends justify the means," Niccolo Machiavelli is remembered throughout history for his profoundly insightful theories on political science.

The Prince, written in 1513 is the world's most celebrated master plan for seizing—and holding onto power.

Devastating in its candor, The Prince remains a disturbingly genuine and prophetic work on what it takes to be a leader, a king, a president.

When, in 1512, Machiavelli was unseated from his post in his beloved Florence, he resolved to set down a treatise on leadership that was practical, not idealistic.

He envisioned a ruler entirely unencumbered by ordinary moral or ethical values; his prince would be both man and beast; the fox and the wolf.

Today, this concise sixteenth-century masterpiece has become essential reading for every student of government, and is the definitive book on power politics.

PHILIP DOSSICK is the New York Times critically acclaimed writer and director of the motion picture The P.O.W. He has written for television, including the outstanding drama, Transplant, produced by David Susskind for CBS. His most recent books include Aztecs: Epoch Of Social Revolution, Sex And Dreams, Mark Twain In Seattle, The Naked Citizen: Notes On Privacy In The Twenty-First Century, Raymond Chowder And Bob Skloot Must Die, and The Deposition.