Our next 52 Books Bingo adventure is to read something about or considered to be Machiavellian. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat and the father of modern political theory. His most famous work, The Prince, was written in an attempt to win the attention of Lorenzo De Medici and earn a position within his government. The short work is a treatise on how to win and maintain political power in which the ruler is not bound by ethical norms.
If someone is said to be Machiavellian, they are characterized as being unscrupulously cunning, and psychologists see Machiavellianism as a person so focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals. It is also defined as "being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli's The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described." Some believe the book to be satire and equate it with Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. Check out Yale Insights What Can You Learn From Machiavelli?
There are a number of ways to go with this category, including but not limited to reading morality plays, history or political thrillers, historical treatises, psychological mysteries.
Need a few ideas?
Explore Goodreads Popular Machiavellianism Books and Popular Political Satire, 23 Books every House of Cards Fan should read, What Would Machiavelli Read, or Game of Thrones: a Study in Machiavellianism.
Have fun following rabbit trails!
********************************************
If you'd like to share your book reviews, you may link to your website, blog, Goodreads, Google+, Tumblers, or Instagram page. If you do not have any internet or social media account, please leave a comment to let us know what you are reading. Please do not add links of 52 Books, nonexistent or old web pages. They will be deleted. If your link disappears, please email me if you need to change or update your links. The linking widget closes at the end of each book week.
In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field paste a link to your post, then check the privacy box and click enter.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your kind comments.