Considered one of the first works of modern philosophy, Machiavelli's The Prince is an intense study on the anture of power and the course it should take when ruling a country. The story is a manual of amoral and underhand instructions on how a prince might go about sacending to a position of prominence, using any means at his disposal - including flattery, bias and force. Responsible for the widely used phrase 'Machiavellian', with all of its negative connotations, his extreme treaties remains a classic text.