The Prince

* Animated eBook *

Renowned Italian philosopher and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli boldly asserted that the importance of a strong ruler who was not afraid to be harsh with his subjects and enemies even emphasized the occasional need for the exercise of brute force or deceit including extermination to head off any chance of a challenge to the prince's authority through his most famous work The Prince (Il Principe) in 1513. 

The book itself gained enormous notoriety and wide readership because the Catholic Church banned it putting on Index Librium Prohibitorum(List of Prohibited Books). Most readers assumed the author was endorsing evil and immoral behavior.