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The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli

The Prince is 49,988 words — about 3h 20m at 250 words per minute, across 23 chapters. Measure your own speed and read it free, here.

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How it opens

Nicolo Machiavelli was born at Florence on 3rd May 1469. He was the second son of Bernardo di Nicolo Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute, and of Bartolommea di Stefano Nelli, his wife. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility.…

Details

  • AuthorNiccolò Machiavelli
  • SourceProject Gutenberg #1232
  • Length49,988 words · 3h 20m of reading
  • Chapters23
  • DictionaryIncluded
  • CopyrightPublic domain in the United States
  • Source checked2026-08-03

Contents

23 chapters

Recovered from the original source text, so you can open the book at any of them.

  1. 01THE LIFE OF CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI OF LUCCA
  2. 02INTRODUCTION
  3. 03YOUTH — Æt. 1-25—1469-94
  4. 04OFFICE — Æt. 25-43—1494-1512
  5. 05LITERATURE AND DEATH — Æt. 43-58—1512-27
  6. 06THE MAN AND HIS WORKS
  7. 07To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De’ Medici
  8. 08CHAPTER II. CONCERNING HEREDITARY PRINCIPALITIES
  9. 09CHAPTER III. CONCERNING MIXED PRINCIPALITIES
  10. 10CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING A CIVIL PRINCIPALITY
  11. 11CHAPTER XI. CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIES
  12. 12CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING AUXILIARIES, MIXED SOLDIERY, AND ONE’S OWN
  13. 13CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING LIBERALITY AND MEANNESS
  14. 14CHAPTER XVIII.[1] CONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITH
  15. 15CHAPTER XIX. THAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATED
  16. 16CHAPTER XXI. HOW A PRINCE SHOULD CONDUCT HIMSELF SO AS TO GAIN RENOWN
  17. 17CHAPTER XXII. CONCERNING THE SECRETARIES OF PRINCES
  18. 18CHAPTER XXIII. HOW FLATTERERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED
  19. 19CHAPTER XXIV. WHY THE PRINCES OF ITALY HAVE LOST THEIR STATES
  20. 20CHAPTER XXVI. AN EXHORTATION TO LIBERATE ITALY FROM THE BARBARIANS
  21. 21BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI
  22. 22WRITTEN BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI
  23. 23CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI 1284-1328

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