The long out-of-print book by Frank Deppe is considered an important contribution not only to Machiavelli research but also to political theory. It interprets Machiavelli's thinking in the context of the early bourgeois history of Florence and the changes in the modern European state system. In the face of a deep crisis, Machiavelli conjures an imaginary leader whose regime of violence is meant to balance power among the main classes and halt decline. The fascination that this "Prince" continues to exert today is also rooted in the tension between political creative spaces and their objective constraints. Deppe extensively addresses the contradiction that Machiavelli has been celebrated by the political right, from Italian fascism to the "New Right," as well as by the left. In a postscript to the new edition, he reflects on the development.