This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“Close-up observations of Julius had obviously set him to thinking about the elements of political leadership. In 1503 he had been troubled by the downfall of Cesare Borgia, who seemed to have done everything right. Now he was puzzled by the success of the pope, who seemed to have done everything wrong. What lessons, if any, could be taken from these unexpected developments?” – Ross King, Chapter Nine, Page 76
“Machiavelli’s great dream had failed spectacularly. The citizen militia in which he had invested
more than six years of hope and toil had proved itself an even bigger disaster
than the futile canal or the unreliable and unscrupulous condottieri. His faith in the courage and trustworthiness
of a citizen army had proved itself the flimsiest of illusions. The people of Prato had paid for this
delusion in blood. Florence, it now
appeared, would pay the price with its liberty.” – Ross King, Chapter Thirteen,
Page 109
“Over the years he had alienated many Florentine businessmen
and politicians, first with his arrogance and abrasiveness, and then with
scandalous behavior that became the fodder for so much gossip. Finally, the drastic dereliction of his
vaunted militia in Florence’s hour of direst need seemed to prove the
worthlessness of both his pet project and, more generally, his abilities as a
leader. The plaudits won on the Fiume
Morto in 1509 had turned, three years later, into widespread grumbling about
folly and incompetence. Still, if he
felt that autumn that his situation could not get any worse, he was sadly
mistaken: within months he was arrested and thrown into prison.” – Ross King,
Chapter Fourteen, Page 114
Is This An Overview?
Machiavelli learned abouts politics and war through
experience. Ideas developed based on
assignments from the Florence republic, for the Signoria. To be effective in the official post, usually
meant seeming supportive of someone making demands, without providing any valid
obligations to honor the demands.
Machiavelli observed that outcomes were not dependent on character and
making the right decisions, as other factors influenced the outcomes. Machiavelli observed that people have
consistent behavioral traits. Traits
that can be fortunate in situations in which the trait facilitates a favorable
outcome, but problematic when the situation requires a different behavioral
trait.
Power and sovereign independence require military force to
have and defend. Florence, like other
Italian states, used mercenaries known as condottieri, to fight their
battles. The mercenaries were known to
be idle, evasive, and duplicitous. Machiavelli took up the task to raise a
communal militia. Mercenaries might have
been unreliable, but the militia did not provide the wanted courage and
trustworthiness.
Caveats?
This is not a book about the ideas of Machiavelli, but there
were some references to the ideas. This
is a book about the events that Machiavelli participated in, the events which
inspired the ideas, provided evidence for the ideas. Most of the book is about Italian conflicts, specifically,
conflicts that involved Florence. For
many of the events, there is not much information about how Machiavelli
influenced the events, the information provided is mostly about the resolution
of the events.
