"The very penetrating Machiavelli [...], this very wise man, of which it is evident that he was for freedom, for the defense of which he gave the most salutary advice." Spinoza (Political Treaty, V, 7)
A short and fulgurant masterpiece, Le Prince (1532) became from the outset a classic book of political reflection. Opponents and supporters of the Florentine doctrine have stopped to confront each other over the centuries, sometimes at the cost of great misunderstandings.