Books like Machiavelli by Ross King

A seminal 16th‑century Italian treatise, The Prince offers practical guidance for rulers, arguing that ends can justify morally dubious means to secure power and glory.

Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography chronicles his rise from a self‑taught youth to a celebrated printer, inventor, diplomat, and statesman, offering insight into his life and the early United States.

Gandhi's autobiography is a profound exploration of his non-violent resistance to racism and colonialism, as well as his efforts to seek purity and truth through simple living and spiritual devotion.

Walter Isaacson’s biography traces Benjamin Franklin’s life—from shopkeeper to inventor, writer, diplomat and statesman—highlighting how his belief in ordinary citizens helped shape America’s middle‑class identity.

Ron Chernow’s definitive biography of Alexander Hamilton traces the life of America’s founding statesman—from a Caribbean orphan to Washington’s aide, Federalist leader, first Treasury Secretary, and duelist—revealing the political and economic foundations of the modern nation.

A narrative biography of the Florentine in which his own deeds and his own words speak for themselves.

This definitive biography of the revolutionary era villain overturns every myth and image we have of him. The narrative of America's founding is filled with godlike geniuses—Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson—versus the villainous Aaron Burr. Generations have been told Burr was a betrayer—of Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. All untrue. He did not turn on Hamilton; rather, the politically aggressive Hamilton was preoccupied with Burr and subverted Burr's career at every turn for more than a decade through outright lies and slanderous letters. In *Fallen Founder*, Nancy Isenberg portrays the founders as they all really were and proves that Burr was no less a patriot and no less a principled thinker than those who debased him. He was an inspired politician who promoted decency at a moment when factionalism and ugly party politics were coalescing. He was a genuine hero of the Revolution, as much an Enlightenment figure as Jefferson, and a feminist generations ahead of his time. A brilliant orator and lawyer, he was New York's attorney general, a senator, and vice president. Denounced as a man of extreme tastes, he in fact pursued a moderate course, and his political assassination was accomplished by rivals who feared his power and who promoted the notion of his sexual perversions. *Fallen Founder* is an antidote to the worshipful biographies far too prevalent in the histories of the revolutionary era. Burr's story returns us to reality: to the cunning politicians our nation's founders really were and to a world of political maneuvering, cutthroat politicking, and media slander that is stunningly modern. ==== Villain of the Revolution or victim of history? Generations have been told that Aaron Burr was a betrayer of Alexander Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. But in this painstakingly researched, eye-opening biography, Nancy Isenberg resurrects the Burr that time forgot: a loyal patriot, brilliant lawyer, and progressive Enlightenment intellectual who had the tremendous misfortune to make powerful enemies whose efforts ultimately dammed his legacy. Exposing the gritty reality of 18th-century America and its haunting resemblance to our own time, *Fallen Founder* offers a fresh, provocative, and often surprising view of Burr and his fascinating era. *- Back cover*

"This epic piece of storytelling brings the world of fifteenth-century Italy to life as it traces Machiavelli's rise from young boy to controversial political thinker. The often-vilified Renaissance politico and author of The Prince comes to life as a diabolically clever, yet mild mannered and conscientious civil servant. Author Joseph Markulin presents Machiavelli's life as a true adventure story, replete with violence, treachery, heroism, betrayal, sex, bad popes, noble outlaws, deformed kings, menacing Turks, even more menacing Lutherans, unscrupulous astrologers, untrustworthy dentists--and, of course, forbidden love. While sharing the stage with Florence's Medici family, the nefarious and perhaps incestuous Borgias, the artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the doomed prophet Savonarola, Machiavelli is imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately abandoned. Nevertheless, he remains the sworn enemy of tyranny and a tireless champion of freedom and the republican form of government. Out of the cesspool that was Florentine Renaissance politics, only one name is still uttered today--that of Niccolo Machiavelli. This mesmerizing, vividly told story will show you why his fame endures"--