Books by Francesco Guicciardini
The Sweetness of Power: Machiavelli's Discourses and Guicciardini's Considerations
by Niccolo Machiavelli, Francesco Guicciardini
The question of order inspired two of the greatest political thinkers of the Renaissance―Niccoló Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini, whose major works on the nature of government are linked in an authoritative new translation. Political adversaries but nonetheless friends, Machiavelli and Guicciardini both reflected on ancient Rome and refined their conceptions of government with an eye to the political turmoil of their own Florence.
Based on the definitive Italian editions and including extensive explanatory notes, this new translation recreates the fascinating conflict that helped to shape the history of political thought.
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Guicciardini: Dialogue on the Government of Florence (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)
This is the first English translation of Guicciardini's Dialogue on the Government of Florence, written in the 1520s. Like Machiavelli, his more famous contemporary and friend, Guicciardini rejects classical republican arguments in the name of the new political realism and acknowledges the important role of patronage and graft in contemporary politics and the illegitimacy of nearly all forms of political power, arguing for the priority of state interest over private morality and religion.
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The History of Italy
In 1537 Francesco Guicciardini, adviser and confidant to three popes, governor of several central Italian states, ambassador, administrator, military captain--and persona non grata with the ruling Medici after the siege of Florence--retired to his villa to write a history of his times. His Storia d'Italia became the classic history of Italy--both a brilliant portrayal of the Renaissance and a penetrating vision into the tragedy and comedy of human history in general. Sidney Alexander's readable translation and abridgment of Guicciardini's four-volume work earned the prestigious 1970 P.E.N. Club translation award. His perceptive introduction and notes add much to the understanding of Guicciardini's masterpiece.
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