Be like the Fox: Machiavelli in His World

Benner (Machiavelli’s Prince: A New Reading) successfully rehabilitates the image of the highly quotable and oft-maligned Machiavelli, portraying him as an accessible voice of reason even when his fortunes sank during the heights of Medici influence. Historians have spent centuries debating whether to take Machiavelli at face value in The Prince, or whether to read him instead as employing irony aimed at the ruling Medicis. Benner stands firmly in the latter camp, calling Machiavelli’s infamous volume a “masterwork” of irony. Here she expertly blends Machiavelli’s words from letters, diaries, and other writings with striking passages from The Prince to prove her point. Benner includes useful information on deciphering the likeliest meanings behind his words; while Machiavelli’s unsentimental, harsh assertions may garner attention, she reveals how further inspection of surrounding passages and popular writing techniques of the time suggests that the voice employed is a false voice used to warn against the very methods it touts. Benner contextualizes Renaissance Florence and the life of the Machiavelli family, though Machiavelli’s suffering under torture and Pico della Mirandola’s complicated relationship with Savonarola receive only cursory treatment. Ideal as a companion to The Prince in university courses, Benner’s work places readers in Machiavelli’s daily life and recreates his world for academic and casual readers alike. (May)