'A remarkable work of imaginative engagement backed by scholarly learning.
Benner brings Machiavelli alive by weaving his words and those of his contemporaries into the narrative as a playwright might. Be Like the Fox can be read with pleasure by anyone interested in the craft of politics and the life of ideas.' 
New York Times on Be Like the Fox

'In this tightly composed narrative of Machiavelli’s life and works,
Erica Benner argues that The Prince is a work of secret subversion, using irony and beguilement to advance a staunchly republican message. . .A gripping portrait of a brilliant political thinker, who understood the dangers of authoritarianism and looked for ways to curb them even though independent speech had become impossible.'
— The New Yorker

My last book, Be Like the Fox, is a biography of Machiavelli. I see him as a lifelong republican who fought hard against tyranny and corruption in republics. Since this made him a troublemaker in the eyes of princes and popes, he became an artist of cunning dissimulation who doesn't always 'say what I mean, or mean what I say' (as he wrote to a friend).

Shortlisted for the 2018 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography
Longlisted for the 2017 Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown
BBC Book of the Week, read by Toby Jones
A Guardian Book of the Year 2017
Observer Books of the Year 2017

'A ripping read . . . fascinating, charming, enjoyably unorthodox'
Tim Smith-Laing, Telegraph

'An intriguing journey into the life and mind of a witty and irresistible dissimulator. Monumental - not to be missed.' Gabriele Ottaviani, Convenzionali

'Engaging, entertaining, splendidly colourful. . . Brings to life a Machiavelli who's a man of considerable political principle. Benner does a wonderful job of bringing to life Florentine society – the world of the piazzas, the courts, the battlefields. A creative, very readable book with more than a little contemporary resonance.'  
Catherine Fletcher, Literary Review

'Lively, compulsively readable, fluently written and unshowily erudite'
Terry Eagleton, Guardian

'Benner’s eminently readable book serves as an introduction to Machiavelli and offers plenty of fresh insight even for those sure they know him and his work. Like Machiavelli’s own writings, Benner’s is a meditation on the virtues and flaws of various forms of government and ambitious men who will rule at will unless checked by institutions.'
Emily Tamkin, Foreign Policy

'A rich, vivid and endlessly surprising portrait . . . Be Like the Fox shows Machiavelli as a man with a driving passion to change society for the better. . .His teachings are just as pertinent today as they were 500 years ago.'
Tracy Borman, BBC History Magazine

'A gripping portrait of a brilliant political thinker, who understood the dangers of authoritarianism and looked for ways to curb them even though independent speech had become impossible.'
The New Yorker

'Erica Benner succeeds brilliantly in overturning centuries-old received views of a seminal but misunderstood writer and thinker. Her enthralling and moving evocation of Machiavelli’s turbulent career, set in the milieu in which he lived, also reveals how much he is our contemporary.'
Rosamund Bartlett, author of Tolstoy: A Russian Life

‘Excellent… [Benner is] a fantastic reader of Machiavelli’s very varied literary output. She’s as well-versed in this author’s writing style and writing mind as readers could ask of any biographer.’
Open Letters Monthly

'Guided by Benner, readers penetrate the benign deception in the Florentine author’s authorial ventriloquism and so learn to recognize the subtle but profoundly humane implications of his most famous work. A persuasive challenge to the received opinion of a Renaissance titan.'
Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review)

‘A readable and excellent book . . . In our world of new princes and divided societies, with increasing confrontations that can seem in constant danger of escalating to conflict, Be Like the Fox reads like a cautionary call from the past.’ General Sir Rupert Smith, author of The Utility of Force

'Unconventional, compelling. . . Benner argues that in [his] turbulent, violent world, Machiavelli’s most consistent advice favoured principle, restraint and respect for the rule of law, even in The Prince.' 
Julian Baggini, Financial Times

'Timely, dramatic . . . an eye-opening, captivating portrait. Benner succeeds at what every biographer tries to do: she brings her subject to life for her readers.'
Kirkus