![]() ![]() His egalitarian politics made him an enemy of the Medici family, and his secular outlook put him at odds with religious zealots. ![]() Benner relates how Machiavelli rose as an advisor in the Florentine Republic, advancing the city's interests as a diplomat and military strategist, only to become a political pariah when the Republic was defeated. Through dialogues and diaries, we witness dramatic episodes, including Savonarola's fiery sermons against the elite in Florence's piazza, Machiavelli's secret negotiations with Caterina Sforza at the court of Forl, and the Florentines' frantic preparations to resist Pope Julius's plan to over-throw their Republic. Shaking the dust from history, Benner masterfully interweaves Machiavelli's words with those of his friends and enemies, giving us a biography with all the energy of fiction. In Be Like the Fox, Erica Benner sets the record straight: far from the ruthless "Machiavellian" henchman that people think he was, Machiavelli emerges here as a profound ethical thinker who fought to uphold high moral standards and restore the democratic freedoms of his beloved Florence. ![]() Since the publication of The Prince five centuries ago, Machiavelli has been associated with political amorality. ![]()
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