Five hundred years after his death, Niccolò Machiavelli still draws an astonishing range of contradictory characterizations. Was he a friend of tyrants? An ardent republican loyal to Florence’s free institutions? The father of political realism? A revolutionary populist? A calculating rationalist? A Renaissance humanist? A prophet of Italian unification? A theorist of mixed government? A forerunner to authoritarianism? The master of the dark arts of intrigue? This book provides a vivid and engaging introduction to Machiavelli’s life and works that sheds new light on his originality and relevance. Gabriele Pedullà―a leading Italian expert and acclaimed writer―offers fresh readings of the Florentine thinker’s most famous writings, The Prince and the Discourses on Livy , as well as lesser-known texts. A new and often surprising Machiavelli emerges: one closer to his time but also better suited to inform our own. Pedullà’s portrait of Machiavelli highlights his close attention to social and emotional bonds, staunch opposition to oligarchy, keen awareness of the economic side of power dynamics, and strong preference for history over philosophy as a guide for leaders. This book recovers the excitement Machiavelli roused in his first readers for a twenty-first-century audience, capturing his capacity to provoke, both then and now, with unconventional ideas and startling insights. Among the many books one could read on Machiavelli over the last decades, this one strongly stands out. Eloquently written, incisively argued, and with a view on the past and the present, Pedullà succeeds in elaborating both the many merits and multiple flaws, the attractiveness and the perilousness of the theoretical work this Italian thinker and statesman bequeathed to us. Everyone interested in the energy room of politics should definitely read this brilliant book. -- Axel Honneth, Jack B. Weinstein Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University Pedullà's On Niccolo Machiavelli will stand as the single most important introductory study of Machiavelli in any language. Covering biographical details and historical context as well as offering concise and astute analyses of Machiavelli's major writings, it is a work of great insight, depth, and originality. -- John P. McCormick, author of Reading Machiavelli: Scandalous Books, Suspect Engagements, and the Virtue of Populist Politics An immensely rich analysis of Machiavelli’s achievement that integrates his political and literary writings with his life and view of religion. More than that, it goes on to explain his contested legacy from the time of his death to his present relevance today, making it quite unrivaled in its scope and appeal to a global and multifocused readership. -- Alison Brown, author of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici and the Crisis of Renaissance Italy Pedulla’s book serves as an excellent primer for Machiavelli’s work, offering the key through which to interpret his most controversial ideas. ― ZME Science But even grizzled veterans will find interest in Pedullà’s portrait of the Secretary as a political animal who was also a non-conformist and a critic of conventional wisdom. ― Claremont Review of Books Pedullà's valuable contribution to the "Core Knowledge" series from Columbia College will allow students to see the complex paradoxes of the mind of Machiavelli. ― Choice With this new short introduction, Pedullà successfully manages to popularize his approach to the Florentine secretary, while carefully taking the most recent scholarship into account. ― Jacobin It is simply the best introductory study of the great Florentine secretary in any language. ― History of European Ideas The distinguishing feature of this introduction is the attention it pays to context, that is, to Machiavelli situated among his Renaissance contemporaries and to the innovative literary forms he employed. ― Review of Politics Pedullà’s volume is primarily aimed at providing college students and general readers with an introduction to Machiavelli, but it accomplishes more than that. It also offers food for thought to specialists. ― Renaissance Quarterly Gabriele Pedullà is professor of Italian literature at the University of Roma Tre. His English-language books include In Broad Daylight: Movies and Spectators After the Cinema (2012) and Machiavelli in Tumult: The Discourses on Livy and the Origins of Political Conflictualism (2018). His publications in Italian include award-winning fiction as well as an annotated edition of The Prince .