Machiavelli

The much-vilified Renaissance politico, and author of The Prince, comes to life as a diabolically clever, yet mild mannered and conscientious civil servant in this nonfiction novel. Author Joseph Markulin presents Machiavelli's life as a true adventure story, replete with violence, treachery, heroism, betrayal, sex, bad popes--and, of course, forbidden love.While sharing the same stage as Florence's Medici family, the nefarious and perhaps incestuous Borgias, the artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the doomed prophet Savonarola, Machiavelli is imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately abandoned. Nevertheless, he remains the sworn enemy of tyranny and a tireless champion of freedom and the republican form of government. Out of the cesspool that was Florentine Renaissance politics, only one name is still uttered today--that of Niccolò Machiavelli. This mesmerizing, vividly told story will show you why his fame endures.

""Frequently delightful..." --Wall Street Journal "An enjoyable romp through a fascinating period in European history." --Booklist

Joseph Markulin is a former professor of Italian and comparative literature with a specialization in medieval and Renaissance studies. After publishing on topics ranging from Dante to Fellini, Markulin joined the fast-moving, not to say Machiavellian, world of public relations in New York City. He currently lives in the Catskills in upstate New York, where he hosts a radio show and tends an organic farm.