A page-turner full of wit, original insight and unassuming erudition |
Highly stimulating, wonderfully readable. . . Wherever she darts in history, Benner is a terrific guide. Her analysis of democracy's strengths and weaknesses is forensic |
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Really Existing Nationalisms Oxford University Press, 1995 New version: Verso, 2018 A study of Marx and Engels’ thinking on nationalism and national identity. Erica Benner questions the view that Marx and Engels failed to understand nationalism’s extraordinary power. 'A brave, avowedly revisionist appraisal.' Times Literary Supplement 'A tour de force...an invaluable contribution to the critique of nationalism theory.' Mike Davis, New Left Review |
Erica Benner, Machiavelli's Ethics
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Machiavelli's Ethics
Princeton University Press, 2009 'A remarkable account of the dominant themes in Machiavelli's work... It should be read by all who are interested in philosophy, politics, rhetoric, and the history of Western thought. Books of such perceptive insight and scholarly care arrive infrequently.' Philosophy in Review |
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Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading Oxford University Press, 2013 'Every student of Machiavelli will benefit from reading this book.' Choice, starred review ''Provides a great service to Machiavelli scholars.' Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews |
Erica Benner, Machiavelli's Prince
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Be Like the Fox
Penguin Allen Lane (UK) and W.W. Norton (US) 2017
'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
Penguin Allen Lane (UK) and W.W. Norton (US) 2017
'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
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 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
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 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
'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
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