The Essential Writings of Machiavelli or The Eloquent President

The Essential Writings of Machiavelli

Author: Niccolo Machiavelli

FINALIST--2008 PEN TRANSLATION PRIZE
In The Essential Writings of Machiavelli, Peter Constantine has assembled a comprehensive collection that shows the true depth and breadth of a great Renaissance thinker. Refreshingly accessible, these superb new translations are faithful to Machiavelli’s original, beautifully crafted writings.

The volume features essays that appear in English for the first time, such as “A Caution to the Medici” and “The Persecution of Africa.” Also included are complete versions of the political treatise, The Prince, the comic satire The Mandrake, The Life of Castruccio Castracani, and the classic story “Belfagor”, along with selections from The Discourses, The Art of War, and Florentine Histories. Augmented with useful features–vital and concise annotations and cross-references–this unique compendium is certain to become the standard one-volume reference to this influential, versatile, and ever timely writer.

“Machiavelli's stress on political necessity rather than moral perfection helped inspire the Renaissance by renewing links with Thucydides and other classical thinkers. This new collection provides deeper insight into Machiavelli’s personality as a writer, thus broadening our understanding of him.”
–Robert D. Kaplan, author of Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos 

“Constantine’s selection is not only intelligent; his translations are astonishingly good. Thoughtfully introduced by Albert Russell Ascoli, this edition belongs in everyone’slibrary.”
–John Jeffries Martin, professor and chair, department of history, Trinity University

“If one were to assign a single edition of Machiavelli's works, this most certainly would be it.”
–John P. McCormick, professor, department of political science, University of Chicago

Book about: The 10 Solution for a Healthy Life or 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet

The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln through His Words

Author: Ronald C Whit

“White takes us back to when great men believed in the power of words to change the world. . . . This book . . . is a treasure to read, a spur to thinking, a small volume with fascinating history.”–The Denver Post

In The Eloquent President, historian Ronald C. White, Jr., examines Abraham Lincoln’s astonishing oratory and explores his growth as a leader, a communicator, and a man of deepening spiritual conviction. Examining a different speech, address, or public letter in each chapter, White tracks the evolution of Lincoln’s rhetoric from the measured tones of the First Inaugural to the immortal poetry of the Gettysburg Address. As he weighs the biblical cadences and vigorous parallel structures that make Lincoln’s rhetoric soar, White identifies a passionate religious strain that most historians have overlooked. It is White’s contention that, as president, Lincoln not only grew into an inspiring leader and determined commander in chief, but also embarked on a spiritual odyssey that led to a profound understanding of the relationship between human action and divine will. With grace and insight, White captures the essence of the four most critical years of Lincoln’s life and makes his great words live for our time in all their power and beauty.

The Washington Post - Michael F. Bishop

In his splendid new book, The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words, Ronald C. White Jr. shines an admiring light upon Lincoln's presidential rhetoric *#8230; In his great speeches, Lincoln soars above the squalor of his origins, and we soar along with him. That someone should rise from humble origins to the height of power is not unique, but Lincoln's elevation was accompanied by an almost priestly refinement of spirit, perhaps most evident in his unforgettable writings. The Eloquent President is an insightful, highly readable exploration of literary genius.

Publishers Weekly

White (Lincoln's Greatest Speech) traces Lincoln's evolving rhetoric over the course of his presidency in a series of highly detailed critical essays. He follows Lincoln from the cautious, lawyerly text of the First Inaugural to the soaring, triumphant poetics of the Gettysburg Address. As White rightly emphasizes, a great deal of presidential power emanates from "rhetorical leadership." During the darkest moments of Lincoln's generally grim presidency, he had only his own stark eloquence with which to keep his "house divided" from collapsing entirely, and-up to a point-it is intriguing to study the mechanics of Lincoln's vital words. Throughout his book, White not only documents the growth of Lincoln's capacity for great inspirational language, but also shows how each major speech and public remark of Lincoln's presidential career was influenced and shaped by shifting, and eminently practical, political considerations. White is adept at analyzing Lincoln's structural tics and cadences, and the subtle plays of syntax in which he relished the repetition of such complementary words as "renew" and "anew." This level of detail, however, makes for some very long and dry-albeit illuminating-analysis that only the most devoted Lincoln enthusiast will likely be willing to wade through. B&w illus. Agent, Mary Evans. (On sale Jan. 18) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

White (American intellectual & religious history, San Francisco Theological Seminary; Lincoln's Best Speech) approaches Lincoln through his own words, asking how his subject developed his rhetorical skills. Perhaps more than any other President, Lincoln understood the power of words and carefully crafted his public speeches, letters, and statements. His reading in the Bible, Shakespeare, poetry, and the law-as well as his practice of law before juries-attuned him to the rhythms and powerful cadences of language and the importance of clear argument. White listens to Lincoln and leafs through his drafts of public writings to find the man and method behind the words. Each chapter in this tightly argued book examines a particular speech or public letter, including one draft never delivered, to discover Lincoln's developing rhetorical style of parallel structures, alliteration, and imagery and his political vision. By reading his messages in context and in sequence, White concludes that Lincoln's eloquence fits Aristotle's model speaker in that Lincoln wrote and spoke to persuade in ways that made him credible and memorable. Words fiercely mattered to Lincoln, and this book will show us why they should matter to us still. Highly recommended for all history collections.-Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:

1	"With a task before me greater than ... Washington" : farewell address at Springfield, February 11, 1861	3
2	"This, his almost chosen people" : speeches and remarks, train trip from Springfield to Washington, February 11-23, 1861	23
3	"The mystic chords of memory" : first inaugural address, March 4, 1861	62
4	"This is ... a people's contest" : message to Congress in special session, July 4, 1861	98
5	"My paramount object in this struggle" : reply to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862	125
6	"God wills this contest" : meditation on the divine will, September 2(?), 1862	153
7	"We cannot escape history" : annual message to Congress, December 1, 1862	170
8	"You say you will not fight to free negroes" : letter to the rally at Springfield, August 26, 1863	190
9	"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom" : Gettysburg address, November 19, 1863	223
10	"I claim not to have controlled events" : "little speech" to Albert G. Hodges, April 4, 1864	260
11	"With malice toward none; with charity for all" : second inaugural address, March 4, 1865	277
App. 1	Farewell address at Springfield, February 11, 1861	310
App. 2	Speeches and remarks, train trip from Springfield to Washington, February 11-23, 1861	312
App. 3	First inaugural address, March 4, 1861	329
App. 4	Message to Congress in special session, July 4, 1861	347
App. 5	Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, August 22, 1862	363
App. 6	Meditation on the divine will, September 2(?), 1862	365
App. 7	Annual message to Congress, December 1, 1862	366
App. 8	Abraham Lincoln to James C. Conkling, letter to the Springfield rally, August 26, 1863	384
App. 9	Gettysburg address, November 19, 1863	390
App. 10	"Little speech" to Albert C. Hodges, April 4, 1864	393
App. 11	Second inaugural address, March 4, 1865	397