Niccolò Machiavelli dedicated his book The Prince to the ruling Florentine party in 1516. The book was written as a ruling guide for the Medici family, who had just come to power in Florence, Italy. In the very first paragraph of the book, Machiavelli offers the book to Lorenzo de' Medici as a gift. He also explains that the book is from the view of the common man, looking up at a ruler. The book was written as an attempt to gain favor from the ruling party, and possibly gain employment within the current government. He had been unemployed since 1512, when the Medici family came to power.
             What interested me most are the different themes throughout the book. Machiavelli wrote about being a ruler, different types of armies to have, and the free will of man. Up until this book, much of the disasters and fallen governments was linked to religion beliefs and not the free will of the people. Machiavelli had several years of experience working inside the government, yet he never achieved a high status of leadership. He was sent on various diplomatic missions, and kept ties with foreign governments. With this experience, he wrote The Prince and used many foreign leaders as examples to his points. Over the years, the word Machiavelli has become associated with an act of being "deceitful and cunning". This is directed on the views of Machiavelli when it comes to his recommendation on how to stay in power.
             If a ruler who wants always to act honorably is surrounded by many unscrupulous men his downfall is inevitable. Therefore, a ruler who wishes to maintain his power must be prepared to act immorally when this becomes necessary (p. 55)
             The introduction, bibliographical notes and the list of principal events were written by Quentin Skinner. The translation, annotations to the text, the appendices, the biographical notes, and the indexes were written by Russell Price.
             Russel Price explained in detail...