Rating: 
Summary: Machiavelli as a human being rather than an epithet
Review: This is a concise and lively account of Machiavelli's life. It provides the general reader with much needed context and background in order to read Machiavelli's works with any kind of understanding. While there are good scholarly works that can provide the feeling of more intellectual heft, this book should not be underestimated simply because it is easy to read and doesn't require weeks to read.Machiavelli is one of those brand-name characters that evoke certain reactions in people in such a generalized way that people mistakenly believe they know something about the man and his work. This book can help debunk much of that received nonsense. It is surprising how "modern" a man he was considering he lived nearly 500 years ago. The author has admiration for Machiavelli's skills as an analyst and as a diplomat, has sympathy for his personal suffering and disappointments, and forgiving in his attitude towards Machiavelli's human failings (the author might not even agree they were failings - they were just human). And that is the book's greatest contribution; it shows its subject as a human being rather than a caricature or a statue. In any case, I found this to be a very valuable and entertaining book. I recommend it highly. You can draw your own conclusions about the subject and they author's conclusions. But you will have gained a lot in the process of coming to those (now better informed) conclusions. There are a few helpful maps throughout the book and a suggested reading list at the end. The translation is terrific.
Rating:
Summary: Machiavelli as a human being rather than an epithet
Review: This is a concise and lively account of Machiavelli's life. It provides the general reader with much needed context and background in order to read Machiavelli's works with any kind of understanding. While there are good scholarly works that can provide the feeling of more intellectual heft, this book should not be underestimated simply because it is easy to read and doesn't require weeks to read. Machiavelli is one of those brand-name characters that evoke certain reactions in people in such a generalized way that people mistakenly believe they know something about the man and his work. This book can help debunk much of that received nonsense. It is surprising how "modern" a man he was considering he lived nearly 500 years ago. The author has admiration for Machiavelli's skills as an analyst and as a diplomat, has sympathy for his personal suffering and disappointments, and forgiving in his attitude towards Machiavelli's human failings (the author might not even agree they were failings - they were just human). And that is the book's greatest contribution; it shows its subject as a human being rather than a caricature or a statue. In any case, I found this to be a very valuable and entertaining book. I recommend it highly. You can draw your own conclusions about the subject and they author's conclusions. But you will have gained a lot in the process of coming to those (now better informed) conclusions. There are a few helpful maps throughout the book and a suggested reading list at the end. The translation is terrific.
Rating: 
Summary: A Most Useful Biography
Review: Viroli concisely depicts the people and tumultuous events of 16th century Italy. This illuminates Machiavelli's 15th and 16th century historical examples, and helps the reader of _The Prince_ and _The Discourses_ to obtain a firmer grasp of Machiavelli's subtle and ephemeral ideas. Reading Viroli has helped me see that Machiavelli was a man out of season, and that this contrariness is key to understanding his works. Machiavelli saw, and experienced that the tectonic momentum of centuries of declining political and military virtue in Italy (and the rest of the world) could not be reversed by a single man in a single lifetime, whether he be an outcast Secretary of a failed government, like Machiavelli, or a deposed military strongman like Cesare Borgia. Machiavelli's experience as Secretary fed his scholarship. It led him to understand the changes in peoples and states. Machiavelli reveals that truth very carefully and quietly in books that are seemingly straightforward and brash. The aspiration to rule, he might say, requires blindness to history, and a love of myth. The would be prince can not see that the highest examples of Princes, men who are revered for changing the course of whole nations, were failures and were despised by their contemporaries. Their "revolutions" unfolded over the course of generations as the mass of the people absorbed a new teaching, and a common language.
Rating:
Summary: A Perceptive Man at the Death of the Renaissance
Review: Viroli's concise, readable biography of Niccolo Machiavelli describes the violent times he lived in and the diplomatic missions Machiavelli was assigned, and how he achieved them, often in Machiavelli's own perceptive words. When the Medici regained control of Florence, Machiavelli lost his diplomatic post which he carried out so ably. After he lost his position Machiaveli spent his time writing about what he learned from his diplomatic activities and from the past. We also learn about Machiavelli's financial problems and his love affairs. Viroli's account of Machiavelli's diplomatic activities is detailed and fascinating. But his account of Machiavellis financial and love affairs is not so interesting.
Viroli included a chronology of Italian history for background. He also included a few maps, which could have been more detailed.
Rating: 
Summary: Sporadic smiles
Review: While this book contains some intriguing information and anecdotes, this occurs far too infrequently. And what points it does make, it makes over and over without illuminating anything new or insightful about them. For instance, Viroli talks about Niccolo's devotion to Florence and its development/protection of a republican society, but he includes very little regarding why his devotion was so strong. General statements were made about his social status and the regional bias in Italy, but no real detail was included. This made the book much less lively than it should have been. And what's worse, in every topic, Viroli has his reader swimming among dozens of names. We hardly get to know any of the supporting characters in any depth. When I bought this book, I expected to understand Machiavelli's works - specifically, THE PRINCE - better because of this biography. The flaps of the book led me to this belief, but the book did not deliver. It hardly even spoke of THE PRINCE, and never in any detail. Also, considering the number of times Machiavelli's humor is mentioned, the reader rarely stumbles upon anything very witty. This was disappointing, and I'm sure there is more to be said about this fantastic historical figure.
Rating:
Summary: Sporadic smiles
Review: While this book contains some intriguing information and anecdotes, this occurs far too infrequently. And what points it does make, it makes over and over without illuminating anything new or insightful about them. For instance, Viroli talks about Niccolo's devotion to Florence and its development/protection of a republican society, but he includes very little regarding why his devotion was so strong. General statements were made about his social status and the regional bias in Italy, but no real detail was included. This made the book much less lively than it should have been. And what's worse, in every topic, Viroli has his reader swimming among dozens of names. We hardly get to know any of the supporting characters in any depth. When I bought this book, I expected to understand Machiavelli's works - specifically, THE PRINCE - better because of this biography. The flaps of the book led me to this belief, but the book did not deliver. It hardly even spoke of THE PRINCE, and never in any detail. Also, considering the number of times Machiavelli's humor is mentioned, the reader rarely stumbles upon anything very witty. This was disappointing, and I'm sure there is more to be said about this fantastic historical figure.
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