# The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

5 Hacker News commenters recommended The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended by a few readers, including one who returned to it after about 25 years and found it remarkably modern. One critic finds the phrasing dated and hard to read.

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/leviathan.md): 11 recommend
- [Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/capitalist-realism.md): 7 recommend
- [The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay](https://hackerapproved.com/p/federalist-papers.md): 4 recommend
- [Politics by Aristotle](https://hackerapproved.com/p/politics.md): 3 recommend
- [The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels](https://hackerapproved.com/p/communist-manifesto.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553212788?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780553212785) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli", https://hackerapproved.com/p/prince/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).