Politics, Patriotism and Language Niccolò Machiavelli’s «Secular Patria» and the Creation of an Italian National Identity

"This unusual study shows Niccolò Machiavelli as something of the wistful idealist rather than merely a brutal realist. William J. Landon's book sheds exciting light on the relationship between the literary preoccupations of the Italian Renaissance and the political divisions of the Italian peninsula." (Richard Mackenney, Chair, Department of History, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
"This is a serious and instructive study of an important and neglected theme in Niccolò Machiavelli's thought. It is accompanied by a fine new translation of Machiavelli's 'Discorso o dialogo intorno alla nostra lingua'." (Susan Meld Shell, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Boston College)