The 10 Most Influential Books of All Time
8. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. First published after his death, this book is his most famous work and has been cited as the most popular and influential book ever written about politics. Its content is as relevant today as it was hundreds of years ago. Machiavelli attempts to offer guidance to politicians of time on how to obtain power and the best way to keep it. The ideas and suggestions stated in the book were so crude and disturbing that his name, “Machiavellian” is used today to describe those that have adopted them, ruthlessly pursuing power. The philosophy being very different from that written about by prior political writers of the time, it focuses not on morals but on the pursuit of politics as a science, advocating the idea that whatever is necessary is acceptable. Needless to say, the book caused huge controversy and was promptly condemned by Pope Clement VIII, but it remained popular and still is today, making it a definite pick for this list.
