Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

Buyer Beware: its an old english translation of classic works	Customer Rating:
This is the real deal and you will get both of Machiavelli's excellent works translated in Old English which makes it a huge pain to read. If you are into that sort of thing, then go for it, but I am not.

Excellent	Customer Rating:
The product was in perfect conditions. The book it's one of the nicest editions of 'The Prince'. An excellent product.

Terrible MP3 CD, terrible packaging

Customer Rating:

I was not at all happy with my recent Audio MP3 CD purchase of The Prince. Firstly, the packaging was shotty at best, nothing professional about it. Looks like some dude made this in his garage with a blank cd and an inkjet. Secondly, a few of the tracks didn't even work, for example #2, and #19. As well, at least 2 other tracks were only 5 seconds long. I would recommend staying away from this product and save your money.

Good book	Customer Rating:
I've had the art of war recomended to me by several people. As someone who is in retail/IT, it is an interesting read, but tough to follow. I believe that the version by Sun Tzu would be a little more appropriate for a business/management setting.

Two Great Books for the Price of One

Customer Rating:

Ever so often you find one of those special books that you just have to re-read from time to time. Machiavelli's The Prince was already on my list. After finding this book, which also contains The Art of War by Machiavelli, The Art of War has also made my list. The conversational, or rather dialogue, style of The Art of War is very different from the straight exposition of The Prince. The points that are important get argued out by the characters as they explain their points of views to each other. Of course, the dialogues are biased in favor of the views that Machiavelli wished to promote. That was a very popular style for a variety of reason during those times. Chiefly, it gave the author some wiggle room if the book was challenged by The Church (although it didn't do Galileo much good with regard to The Starry Messenger.) Having both of these books in one volume also serves to illustrate the breadth and width of Machiavelli's intellect, both as a political theorist and as an accomplished writer. There should be no doubt that Machiavelli was not writing for the public at large. His intended audience was the Medici family and the other powerful leaders of his own time. Most of his writings, with these two being the prime examples, were intended to demonstrate just how clever he was to the people who could help his career plans. The fact that he left a legacy that has influenced philosophy and politics for all time was coincidental. On a more practical vein, this particular edition is a bargain simply because you get two great books by one of the most important figures in the history of political theory for less than the price of the two separate books. And, having both books bound together keeps you from misplacing one of them. What a deal!