John Rigby Hale

Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy

Jeni Enjaian

(copied from my annotated bibliography)
Hale’s book forms part of a series designed to explain history with biographies of major historical figures of a particular period. Hale intends this book specifically to provide answers to questions about the purpose of, the audience for, and Machiavelli’s own experience that contributed to his works. After explaining the reason for the short shrift of Machiavelli’s early life, Hale divides the book into nine chronological chapters each spanning no more than five years. Each chapter is organized around a major event occurring during Machiavelli’s lifetime. 
Hale provides a thorough explanation of the events that may have influenced Machiavelli’s writing. He adeptly hypothesizes about how these events may have contributed. Occasionally the scope of the text becomes too broad including events only slightly related to Machiavelli. This expanded scope supports the overall theme of the series. The chapter divisions aid understanding and interpretation. Though some events bleed from the end of one chapter into the beginnings of the next, the chapter divisions form a good interpretational framework. Finally, the book is well documented and easily searchable due to the included index. A brief bibliography is also appended. I would refer to this book again and include it in my own personal library were it still in print.

Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy

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