Then And Now: A Novel
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Damaged
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
Condition remarks: Large tear/chunk missing at bottom of jacket spine. Small tears at jacket corners. Light foxing on block - does not extend internally. Pages bright. Binding, usual wear.
A masterwork of historical fiction, Then and Now chronicles a pivotal diplomatic mission undertaken by Niccolò Machiavelli in the winter of 1502, when the Florentine Republic dispatched him to negotiate with the formidable and unpredictable Cesare Borgia. Maugham reconstructs this fateful encounter with sharp psychological insight, presenting Machiavelli as a shrewd but ultimately outmatched statesman who watches, learns, and schemes against one of the Renaissance's most ruthless power brokers. The novel's tone is coolly ironic and intellectually charged, illustrating how the seeds of The Prince were sown in the humbling reality of real political combat rather than in the comfort of theory. Maugham argues, through elegant and precise prose, that the man who would teach the world about power was himself outmaneuvered by the very archetype he sought to study. The result is a richly layered portrait of ambition, cunning, and the painful gap between political philosophy and political practice.
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
Format: Hardback
Published: 1946, William Heinemann Ltd
Genre: Historical fiction
Edition: First Edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Damaged
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
Condition remarks: Large tear/chunk missing at bottom of jacket spine. Small tears at jacket corners. Light foxing on block - does not extend internally. Pages bright. Binding, usual wear.
A masterwork of historical fiction, Then and Now chronicles a pivotal diplomatic mission undertaken by Niccolò Machiavelli in the winter of 1502, when the Florentine Republic dispatched him to negotiate with the formidable and unpredictable Cesare Borgia. Maugham reconstructs this fateful encounter with sharp psychological insight, presenting Machiavelli as a shrewd but ultimately outmatched statesman who watches, learns, and schemes against one of the Renaissance's most ruthless power brokers. The novel's tone is coolly ironic and intellectually charged, illustrating how the seeds of The Prince were sown in the humbling reality of real political combat rather than in the comfort of theory. Maugham argues, through elegant and precise prose, that the man who would teach the world about power was himself outmaneuvered by the very archetype he sought to study. The result is a richly layered portrait of ambition, cunning, and the painful gap between political philosophy and political practice.