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Annotated Bibliography/Primary Sources
Niccolo Machiavelli
Sergio M Davila
HIST 711
Development of Western Freedoms
Liberty University
Professor Sean Turchin
September 8th, 2025
INTRODUCTION
Niccolo Machiavelli was an interesting thinker/philosopher. His concepts have influenced
many dictators in the twentieth century and beyond. His idea that leaders should try to hold on
to power by any means necessary has given rise to many authoritarian leaders this day and age,
including, but not limited to, North Korea, China, the United States, Turkmenistan, Russia, and
Belarus. The idea that it is better for a leader to be feared than loved is alien to the democracy
of the United States. Barring the current leadership, the majority of presidents of the USA did
what they could to reach the people positively and not create the chaos that we have now,
whether they be Republican or Democrat. Machiavelli did believe that while a leader shouldn’t
be afraid of feared, he shouldn’t cross the line of becoming a hated dictator. That being said, he
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truly believed that a leader that’s worth his mettle shouldn’t be afraid to use means such as
lying, violence, and manipulation to keep his position of power. Mr. Machiavelli was influenced
by philosophers such as Plato, Tacitus, and Cicero. Events in his time such as the fall of the
Medici family of Florence made him interested in the psychology of leaders and what he
believed should move them forward. In summary, Machiavelli believed that all leaders should
do what it takes to maintain their power, which has led to many leaders over the last century
subscribing to this belief in ultimate power.
1. Machiavelli, N., & Mansfield, H. C., Jr. (1998). The Prince. University of Chicago Press
The Prince is well-known by many as a Niccolo Machiavelli’s most famous, or infamous
work. It is a tome that suggests to many a leader as to how they should hold on to power. In
other words, the ends justify the means, as long as said leader keeps his reign as a charismatic
leader that has his set of followers that will see him doing no wrong. While his theories have
been eyeopening, you have to ask yourself, “are these ideas worth forwarding over the years?”
These controversial ideas have been praised by some, but much have criticized his ideas as a
dangerous precedent to follow, as there are way to many dictators who follow his concepts
gleefully like a child with a lighter and no boundaries. In order to be objective on this tome, this
book is a brilliant piece of political science, as it is studied in many colleges and universities the
world over, so there must be something special about the writing of this book that unleashes
some ruthless realism and how a lust for power can overtake morality.
2. Machiavelli, N. (2008). On the Art of War. Waking Lion Press.
Machiavelli’s theory on military strategy, The Art of War, is one of his most significant
books. War is a necessary evil, according to Machiavelli. It should be conducted with the
efficiency of a pit bull attacking its prey. One of his most positive tenets to engaging in warfare is
that a leader must be disciplined and ideals must be fed my morality. The Art of War is seen my
most as one of the leading tomes on military strategy and most of the world. Mr. Machiavelli’s
work here was a response on the military reforms Italy was making at the time. One of the
biggest features of this book was how it offers how soldiers should be trained as well as how to
unleash war on your enemies.
3. Machiavelli, N., Mansfield, H. C., & Tarcov, N. (2021). Discourses on Livy.
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA41214406
This piece of work is a pretty decent commentary om the history of Rome. According to
Machiavelli, Rome was a success because of the principles it was founded on. These principles
of liberty and civic virtue were very important because Machiavelli was a big believer in the
people contributing to civics and being involved in the government. Other components of
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government that he touts are a strong military, as this helps in making sure your government is
a well-oiled machine and organized to the T. The Discourse on Livy is one of the first works on
political thought that influenced many later philosophers and thinkers. Some fans of this book
even include such luminaries as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. This reading is a very
important work of Machiavelli and a great commentary on the first ten tomes of Livy’s history of
Rome.
4. Machiavelli, N. (1970). Machiavelli: the history of Florence, and other selections. In
Twayne Publishers eBooks. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA00952552
This reading is about Machiavelli’s account on the history of his hometown, Florence. The
rise and fall of the historic Florentine republic is the topic of this reading. It gives great details of
what made this city great. Of course, Machiavelli gets into how the leaders of Florence lost their
authority over the people with soft leadership and his heavy-handed approach to making sure
people knew that he was hoping that these leaders could have done what it takes to ensure the
continuation of this reign, by any means necessary. This is a disturbing look into how Niccolo
Machiavelli influenced leaders in the future in trying to buck the rule of law when their time
was up and tried to extend their time as commander-in-chief of their respective countries.
5. Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Mandrake. In The Comedies of Machiavelli, edited and
translated by David Sices and James B. Atkinson, 126-129. Hanover: University Press of
New England, 1985.
Niccolo Machiavelli had an interesting play known as The Mandrake that was written in
the early 1700s. His main character, Callimaco, was just as challenged morally as Niccolo himself,
as he desired to sleep with the married Lucrezia. This scandalous play was nothing more than
Machiavelli projecting his darkest desires into one of his own plays. Many, including me, found
thus gratuitous and lascivious. With that being said, this type of vulgar display was ahead of its
time in the 16th century. One thing that can be said is that that play is a massive treatise against
the Catholic Church for all its corruption and lies at the time. One of the morals, if you could call
it that, is that power will eventually stain one’s soul.
‘
6. Machiavelli, Niccolò. La vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca. Alma Classics.
The reign of Castruccio Castracani is the subject at hand in Machiavelli’s The Life of
Castruccio Castracani. This biography details the rise and fall of this Italian military leader who
made it his mission to unite the city-states of Central and Northern Italy in the 1300s. He
divided the book into 2 parts. Castruccio’s early life gets into his youth and how he was raised.
This part really does a great job at digging into his education, particularly his military education
and training. It seems that Machiavelli regarded this man as the penultimate military leader of
the future. You could say he regarded him as a model of how a leader should be, with a military
mindset and a cutthroat attitude. Part two of the book details his military campaigns, his
victories over the city-states in northern and central Italy, his partnerships he forged with other
military leaders, and, of course, his eventual downfall. One thing that can be said is that with all
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the early promise Machiavelli displayed with Castracani, he displayed that he was a flawed
leader who didn’t do what it takes to hold on to power.
7. Aquinas, T. (1995). Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics (J. P. Rowan, Trans.; Rev. ed.).
St. Augustine's Press. (Original work published c. 1270).
In this reading, it is discussed how Aristotle’s causes and principles of his writings. As we
all know, Machiavelli enjoyed Aristotle’s writings and was influenced by many of his
philosophies. One thing that must be understood is that Machiavelli had a very elaborate,
multitiered relationship with the ideas of Aristotle. He accepted and rejected many facets of his
thoughts. He definitely had issues with Aristotle’s ethics and really critiqued his ideas for the
common good. One thing that was disturbing is that Machiavelli cherrypicked many of
Aristotle’s ideas, especially the ones that suited his agenda. Put it this way, he adopted
Aristotle’s realist political ideas, including the pragmatism in maintaining power and running a
country.
8. The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. (2006). In Wiley eBooks.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470776513
In looking deeper into Machiavelli’s interest in Aristotle, there is the Critiques of The
Blackwell Guide to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, which is very meaningful for the discussions
on virtues such as courage and the point of thinking about your soul when getting into
endeavors such as leading a country. Machiavelli obviously was a fan of not worrying about the
destination of your soul for the wrongs you have done. It is a very loose approach that is missing
a workable thesis and a real focus on how an effective leader should lead a country. While this
theory is flawed, it can open the minds for new scholars.
9. Coleman, Raymond Geuss, Quentin Skinner, and Richard Tuck. St Thomas Aquinas:
Political Writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
This was a significant plethora of writings by St. Thomas Aquinas. Machiavelli pulled
many concepts from this collection that made Aquinas a household name. These were searing
ideas on how leaders use and abuse the power given to them in their position. It was pointed at
both the leaders of any country at the time. But it was also signifying that the Catholic Church
needed to be called out for its corruption as well. One thing that intrigued Machiavelli on
Aquinas’ theories is that he drew heavily form Natural Law, which viewed natural law as a
source of natural rights and a foundation for critiquing unjust human laws.
10. Machiavelli, Niccolò. Art of War. Translated by Christopher Lynch. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2003.
This translation was decent as it focused on clarity and consistency in language. Some,
including me, found the prose complex to the point of ridiculousness. It was confusing in
parts. That being said, the translation of the The Art of War is praised by many as a
sensitive, intelligent tome of how Machiavelli’s ideas became accessible to the masses in
plain English. One thing that must be understood is that much of the criticism is based on
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the translation, not on Machiavelli’s philosophy, which is mind blowing, knowing what he
supports in leaders and how future dictators have used his ideas to hold on to power.
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