Description
The name Niccolò Machiavelli brings to mind a figure with a reputation for cunning and deceit. It is not surprising, therefore, that this shrewd commentator on the nature of political power should turn his analytical skills on the art of war as well. For he lived in tumultuous times, when his country was a battleground for aggressive foreign powers. At least in part, his writings reflected what he saw as the lamentable state of affairs in Italy; so, to broaden our understanding of this iconic writer and political thinker, we must look at the conditions in Italy at the end of the 15th Century, and the political and military circumstances that inspired Machiavelli’s thoughts and his writings.
