Library
Links
For basic information on Machiavelli.
- Machiavelli (Wikipedia)
- Most people will start here anyway, and the page is not bad. The dates and names are accurate.
- Machiavelli (IEP)
- The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers a more sophisticated and in-depth introduction than Wikipedia. It includes a good overview of the main interpretations of Machiavelli’s work. There is also a long list of references and secondary sources.
- The Italian Wars (Wikipedia)
- The invasion of Italy by King Charles VIII of France in 1492 is the central event of Nico’s View of the World. To create a remotely readable narrative, I had to focus on just a handful of that invasion’s consequential moments and drastically distill its main characters, causes, and consequences for narrative convenience. With this site, I hope to provides timetable, summaries, and links to other sources that might help readers of Nico to orient themselves to the historical context. The main thing I hoped to convey in the story is that, if you find even my simplified narrative convoluted and if you find the actual history overwhelming to the point that it reminds you why you hate reading history in the first place, then you may appreciate the anxiety these events caused for the people who had to live through them.
Interview: Erica Benner
Here is an interview with Erica Benner, author of Be Like the Fox, a biography of Machiavelli. It portrays Machiavelli as a professional civil servant dedicated to Florence and its republican traditions, not as a shadowy whisperer of dark advice to bad men. Her reading of The Prince as a critique — not an endorsement — of authoritarianism is close, careful, and convincing. Also, Benner’s attention to the details of Machiavelli’s life and her humane sympathy with his story have contributed greatly to my characterization of Nico.
Essay: Ada Palmer
Here is an excellent introduction to Machiavelli by University of Chicago professor, Ada Palmer.