May 3rd– The Prince by Machiavelli (1532) Translated by NH Thomson
Summary: Evil Overlord List #0
Commentary: I really appreciate all the concrete examples in here. We get whole paragraphs like this:
King Louis was brought into Italy by the ambition of the Venetians, who hoped by his coming to gain for themselves a half of the State of Lombardy. I will not blame this coming, nor the part taken by the King, because, desiring to gain a footing in Italy, where he had no friends, but on the contrary, owing to the conduct of Charles, every door was shut against him, he was driven to accept such friendships as he could get. And his designs might easily have succeeded had he not made mistakes in other particulars of conduct.
Really helps to illustrate how to be a proper, efficient dictator.
I also like how both of Vizinni's classic blunders are addressed. Poorly planned conquests of Venice (close enough) and starting land wars in Asia.
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