"Wise, witty, razor-sharp" Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the Renaissance Began Interested in Machiavelli?That may be a bad sign. We always turn to Machiavelli at crisis points in history - he is the philosopher for dark times. But what do we really know about this man? Is there more to his work than that perennial term for political evil, Machiavellianism? In this concise, elegant book, Patrick Boucheron undoes many assumptions about this most complex of figures. By honing ...

An acclaimed historian illuminates today's political situation by examining the relationship between governing and storytelling, from the Middle Ages to the “post-truth” present, in these engaging essays.In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, renowned medievalist Patrick Boucheron delivered a powerful, probing series of lectures on “political fictions” in the context of rising authoritarianism and populism. Adapted here for the first time in English, they offer ke...

Con este libro, escuchamos a Maquiavelo, como todos los demás antes que nosotros, en el futuro. Desde su muerte en 1527, nunca hemos dejado de leerlo y siempre se separa del letargo. Pero ¿qué sabemos de este hombre, excepto el nombre inventado por sus críticos para designar esa angustia colectiva, ese mal político, el maquiavelismo? Aquí se traza un itinerario claro de cómo, poco a poco, el autor florentino agudiza su estilo. En él, todo es bueno, siempre que uno pueda ejercer el arte de ...

A fresh, provocative history that renews our understanding of France in the world through short, incisive essays ranging from prehistoric frescoes to Coco Chanel to the terrorist attacks of 2015.Bringing together an impressive group of established and up-and-coming historians, this bestselling history conceives of France not as a fixed, rooted entity, but instead as a place and an idea in flux, moving beyond all borders and frontiers, shaped by exchanges and mixtures. Presented in ...

Se ha estado anunciando desde hace años como una catástrofe inevitable. ¿Ha sido para alertarnos o para que nos habituemos a ella?Tras el avance de la ultraderecha en las últimas elecciones europeas y el adelanto de las legislativas en Francia, es posible que ese acontecimiento que tanto temíamos se materialice como la continuación de lo que sabíamos que iba a ocurrir y no supimos ni pudimos evitar. Y comprenderemos, demasiado tarde, que a fuerza de esperar esa cat...

We need history because we need rest: a pause to rest our consciousness, so that the possibility of a consciousness may remain – as the seat not only of thought, but of practical reason, affording full latitude for action. Saving the past, saving time from the frenzy of the present: the poets devote themselves to this with exactitude. For this purpose we must work to weaken ourselves, to make ourselves idle, to make inoperative this endangering of temporality that wrecks experience and des...

Este livro, magnificamente bem escrito, mostra o lado oculto deste que é um dos mais célebres ícones da filosofia política em todos os tempos. Seu nome transformou-se em adjetivo e sua celebridade é alicerçada por uma frase que ele jamais escreveu: "Os fins justificam os meios...". Desde sua morte, em 1527, não paramos de lê-lo, e ele sempre consegue nos arrancar do torpor. Nisso, Maquiavel é implacável como o sol de verão, que lança sobre tudo uma luz tão crua que torna as arestas mais vi...

Un iluminador libro que nos ilustra, y en algunos casos nos advierte, sobre cómo se escribe, y a veces se borra, la historia.¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de acontecimiento histórico? ¿Cómo han llegado a establecerse en los manuales de historia algunas fechas que damos por supuestas? ¿Cómo se han instalado en nuestra memoria colectiva?Este libro, un ejemplo de alta divulgación, se propone explorar estas cuestiones a partir de treinta hechos históricos qu...

Το ενδιαφέρον για τον Μακιαβέλλι αναγεννάται πάντοτε τη στιγµή που προµηνύονται καταιγίδες, διότι είναι αυτός που ξέρει να φιλοσοφεί σε θυελλώδεις καιρούς. Και αν τον ξαναδιαβάζουµε σήµερα, είναι γιατί υπάρχει λόγος να ανησυχούµε. Επιστρέφει: ξυπνήστε». «Ο Μακιαβέλλι είναι αφυπνιστής, επειδή είναι συγγραφέας. Γράφει βουτώντας την πένα του στην πληγή. Γράφει για να δώσει και πάλι ζωή όχι στην αίγλη των λέξεων, αλλά στην αλήθεια των πραγµάτων». Patrick Boucheron Ο Μακιαβέλλι διαβάζεται συνεχ...

From one of the foremost medievalists of our time, a groundbreaking work on history and memory that goes well beyond the life of this influential saint.Elected bishop of Milan by popular acclaim in 374, Ambrose went on to become one of the four original Doctors of the Church. There is much more to this book, however, than the captivating story of the bishop who baptized Saint Augustine in the fourth century. Trace and Aura investigates how a crucial figure...

Le parcours d'un professeur au Collège de France engagé dans la cité.Penser la ville médiévale à l'échelle du monde.Une réflexion sur la pratique émancipatrice de l'historien.Partant de l'adage médiéval " l'air d de la ville rend libre ", qui rend compte du fait que les hommes s'émancipent des dépendances anciennes par le seul fait qu'ils entrent en ville, Patrick Boucheron retrace le parcours qui l'a mené de l'histoire de la brique, des bâtiments et des places publiqu...

Where can the danger be lurking? Two soldiers are huddled together, one gazing up at the sky, the other darting a sideward glance. They derive a tacit reassurance from their weapons, but they are both in their different ways alone and scared. They were painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, and they seem symptomatic of a state of emergency: the year was 1338, and the spectre of the signoria, of rule by one man, was abroad in the city, undermining the very idea of ...