Machiavelli and the Modern State

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'This book makes a significant and fundamental contribution to the vast Machiavelli literature. It makes a very strong case against the idea that Machiavelli's Prince stands opposed to his Discourses on Livy. While not the first time such an argument has been advanced, it makes it in a far more nuanced and sophisticated manner than the fundamental intellectual unity of Machiavelli's political theory has been defended previously. This is a beautifully written, organized, and constructed book. I have rarely read a book on Machiavelli that I enjoyed more or learned more from.' Peter Bondanella, Indiana University, Bloomington 'The main argument of Alissa Ardito's provocative new book pivots on drawing striking comparisons between Machiavelli's thinking and the concern that motivated the American founders - and especially James Madison - a quarter-millennium later. Plunging boldly into the rich complexity of Machiavellian scholarship, Ardito identifies a striking motif that scholarship has neglected: the way in which Machiavelli's thinking marks an important contribution to the history of the formation of aggressive nation-states in the early modern era. Ardito makes a sophisticated contribution to the never-ending challenge of interpreting Machiavelli's seminal ideas.' Jack Rakove, Stanford University