The Prince

Coming into the Prince I thought it was a piece of fiction, so I was a surprise to me that it really is a handbook. Given the theme and renown of Machiavelli it also makes sense he didn’t just write the treatises for enjoyment. Every word is meant, despite the cold and calculating nature of it.

With that said, the handbook does deliver insight on realpolitik. This summary from Wikipedia does the book justice:

Some consider it to be a straightforward description of political reality. Others view the Prince as a manual, teaching would-be tyrants how they should seize and maintain power.

Ideology is not a concern of Machiavelli; except when it is the ideology of others and how power can be gained or retained in relation to them. In that sense it also reminds me of Robert Moses in The Power Broker and the titular figure in The Years of Lyndon Johnson.