Machiavelli in Hell

The author presents a new Machiavelli for this biography that gives a sense of the Florentine thinker;s presence. After telling the story of Machiavelli's childhood and the period of personal crisis that followed his imprisonment and torture, the book turns to The Prince. Thenceforth the facts of biography -- home, journeys, fears and joys, works, friends, and loves -- weave in and out of the narrative as his ideas gather power and come together to form a unified vision of mankind and the world.