Machiavelli: The First Modern Populist | Documentary

Go to https://surfshark.com/historyafterdark or use code HISTORYAFTERDARK at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Who really was Niccolò Machiavelli? For centuries, he's been branded history's most sinister thinker – the man whose name became a byword for evil. But others see something very different: a republican, a revolutionary, and even a hero of the people. ✊ In this episode, we travel back to Renaissance Florence to explore his life and thought – and uncover the real Machiavelli. 🤍 A special thank you to my Patreon community for all their support, especially in these difficult times. If you'd like to support my work for the price of a cup of coffee every month, please join us over at:   / historyafterdark   Our community decides the topics of future videos and you'll get acess to future Patreon-exclusive episodes on topics too spicy for YouTube. 🧑‍🎤 History After Dark is also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6t1XIwN... 00:00:00 – Introducing Machiavelli 00:01:00 – Part 1: The Richest City in the World 00:49:02 – Part 2: Everything He Built 01:21:13 – Part 3: The Lamp Above the Window 02:21:31 – Part 4: Afterlife 📚 Sources for this video: Erica Benner, Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli's Lifelong Quest for Freedom Alexander Lee, Machiavelli: His Life and Times Maurizio Viroli, Niccolò's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli John P. McCormick, Reading Machiavelli: Scandalous Books, Suspect Engagements, and the Virtue of Populist Politics J.G.A. Pocock, The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks Survive with me on:   / historybyfrae