The Rope and the Chains : Machiavelli's Early Thought and Its Transformations

his public service. In an unprecedented interpretation, The Rope and the Chains carefully examines the neglected pre-Prince texts in order to frame his later theories. The book reveals that Machiavelli's thought prior to the Prince was largely conventional when judged by the standards of his day. At the same time, it also demonstrates his dissatisfaction with the intellectual worldview in which he was enmeshed. Machiavelli "became\u0022 Machiavelli once liberated from the rope and the chains by which centuries of tradition had constrained him. [Publisher's text]

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