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

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.

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.