Niccolò Machiavelli

Perhaps no thinker has ever had such a strong, immediate, and lasting influence on future generations as Niccolò Machiavelli. No author has been so deeply embroiled in controversies and debates, not only in the realms of philosophy and politics, but in various aspects of life. And no political historian in the 20th century—at least in Italy—has contributed as much to the study of him as Federico Chabod, whose exceptionally lucid and rigorous analyses have served as an indispensable point of reference, despite the proliferation of critical and interpretive trends, disciplinary approaches, and exegetical perspectives. This entry in the Enciclopedia Italiana, an extraordinarily effective overview of Machiavelli’s life and work, is enriched by an extensive introduction by Alessandro Campi, which concludes by comparing it with Chabod’s own, shorter introduction on Francesco Guicciardini, which closes the volume.