{"product_id":"the-many-and-the-few-machiavelli-and-guicciardinis-critique-of-aristocratic-regimes-9781487566869","title":"The Many and the Few: Machiavelli and Guicciardini's Critique of Aristocratic Regimes","description":"\u003cem\u003eThe Many and the Few\u003c\/em\u003e reconstructs a pattern of recurring populist themes in the writings of Francesco Guicciardini and Niccolò Machiavelli. These two pioneering thinkers of the late Renaissance are almost always presented in terms of dramatic contrasts - while Machiavelli's violent populism and scorn for aristocratic culture is well established, many consider Guicciardini the most influential Renaissance advocate of narrow, elitist regimes. In \u003cem\u003eThe Many and the Few\u003c\/em\u003e, Mark Jurdjevic challenges these pre-existing beliefs and argues that Guicciardini was a vastly more complex thinker who subjected his own aristocratic ideals to devastating scrutiny.\u003cbr\u003eFrom his very first to very last texts, Guicciardini consistently embedded an alternate narrative in which he thoroughly embraced, and arguably exceeded, Machiavelli's view of the innately positive qualities of the people and destructive qualities of the elites. Subsequent \"republican\" writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Madison, all claimed Guicciardini as one of the chief Renaissance exemplars of a longstanding tradition of aristocratic, senatorial politics, but \u003cem\u003eThe Many and the Few\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrates that Guicciardini's contribution was a Trojan horse: it appeared to confirm this tradition even while affirming every aspect of Machiavelli's critique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMark Jurdjevic is professor of history at York University and studies early modern Europe.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Toronto Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51967105171730,"sku":"9781487566869","price":84.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_df566150-6762-4fee-80f8-205dfa9ea22b.jpg?v=1768925758","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-many-and-the-few-machiavelli-and-guicciardinis-critique-of-aristocratic-regimes-9781487566869","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}