Machiavelli wrote The Prince;
Gramsci wrote The Modern Prince;
Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling wrote The Prince.
Gramsci and Pournelle & Stirling based their titles on Machiavelli's. Thus, here we have two works of science fiction linked to two works of political theory. Pretty smart stuff, as I wrote recently about something else. See here.
I will be interested to compare Pournelle's and Stirling's political thinking in their The Prince with Abrams' advice to young Dominic.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I suggest, in addition, that Max Abrams desired the young Dominic Flandry to study not only Machiavelli's THE PRINCE, but also his DISCOURSES. Reading both will give students of political thought a sounder view of Machiavelli's views on the state and political action.
And even in such early CoDominium works of Jerry Pournelle's THE MERCENARY and WEST OF HONOR you will find serious reflections on political problems. One of them being, as I'm seeing in the early chapters of MERCENARY being that sometimes decent men have to do objectively bad thing to prevent even worse things like a nuclear war from breaking out.
And I am looking forward to seeing how you compare Pournelle/Stirling's GO TELL THE SPARTANS and PRINCE OF SPARTA to Anderson's ENSIGN FLANDRY.
Sean
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