Part I. The Florentine secretary -- A shadowy period : the first half of his life -- The relationship with Savonarola -- The activity in the Chancery -- The correspondence with functionaries of the domain -- Diplomatic activity -- The experience of the early missions -- Changes of fortune and the Ghiribizzi al Soderino -- The Florentine ordinance -- The Venetian defeat and the reconquest of Pisa -- The end of the republic and the return of the Medici -- Part II. Exile in his homeland -- The confinement at Sant'Andrea -- "I have composed a little work on princedoms" -- The "myth" of the prince -- Frequenting the Orti Oricellari -- An original comment on Livy -- The art of war -- Part III. "Niccolo Machiavelli, historian, comic writer, and tragic writer" -- A new season in Machiavelli's life -- A return to business -- "The annals or the history of Florence" -- "The things done at home and abroad by the Florentine people" -- The friendship with Guicciardini -- Clizia and the musical madrigals -- Final act -- Appendix: Notes on the use of the word stato in Machiavelli
