A revised and updated edition of what has now become a classic biography of Machiavelli.

An enigmatic smile accompanied Machiavelli throughout his life. In this new, expanded edition, Maurizio Viroli brings to life the fascinating writer who was the founder of modern political thought. Niccolò Machiavelli’s works are classics, but Viroli argues that his greatest achievement was his firm philosophy of life, his deep convictions about how one should behave as a modern citizen in a republic, as a responsible member of a family, as a good human being. Machiavelli did not write books on these subjects: the text of his philosophy is his own life, a life full of paradoxes, uncertainties and tragic dramas. This book tells the story of Machiavelli’s life through his friendships, loves, travels, successes and defeats, and sheds light on the Florence of the Medici and the profound changes in Europe at the dawn of the modern age.