ll Principe (The Prince) is a political treatise by the Florentine writer Niccolò Machiavelli, originally called "De Principatibus" (About Principalities). It was written around 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. The treatise is not actually representative of his published work during his lifetime, but it is certainly the best remembered one. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)