Non-Fiction Book Club: The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, Thursday, January 5, 2012 @ 6:30PM

No, not that Prince. The Prince:

Have you ever heard someone or some entity’s actions pejoratively described as being "Machiavellian"? Ever wonder what that means? Ever wonder if indeed, the definition of "Machiavellian" might have changed somewhat from the facts of his philosophy. The Pollard's Non-Fiction book club has tasked itself with investigating this definition by reading Machiavelli's legendary treatise The Prince, originally written in 1513 and cited as one of the first works of political philosophy. We're going to see if we can make sense of what Niccolò was getting at and whether his ideas deserve the rap they’ve been given.

One of the great things about this month's selection is that since it was written in the 16th century, it is in the public domain and is widely available online. And it is a favorite amongst poly-sci profs so there are also study guides available to aid contextualizing the work.

Join in on the discussion! Despite the fact that we ask you obtain your own copy of the selected title (copies available to borrow from our library system, call 978-970-4121 with your library card to request one) the Pollard Library Non-Fiction Book Club is free and open to the public. We will be voting for future titles at the December meeting. For more information or to request a ballot please contact Sean Thibodeau, Community Planning Librarian sthibodeau@mvlc.org or 978-970-4118.