Be Like the Fox Audiobook By Erica Benner cover art

Be Like the Fox

Machiavelli in His World

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Be Like the Fox

By: Erica Benner
Narrated by: Karen Saltus
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The dramatic, myth-shattering story of how Machiavelli - arguably the most misunderstood thinker of all time - fought to change his corrupt world.

Since the publication of The Prince five centuries ago, Machiavelli has been associated with political amorality. But that characterization is unfair. In Be Like the Fox, Erica Benner sets the record straight: far from the ruthless "Machiavellian" henchman that people think he was, Machiavelli emerges here as a profound ethical thinker who fought to uphold high moral standards and restore the democratic freedoms of his beloved Florence.

Shaking the dust from history, Benner masterfully interweaves Machiavelli's words with those of his friends and enemies, giving us a biography with all the energy of fiction. Through dialogues and diaries, we witness dramatic episodes, including Savonarola's fiery sermons against the elite in Florence's piazza, Machiavelli's secret negotiations with Caterina Sforza at the court of Forlí, and the Florentines' frantic preparations to resist Pope Julius's plan to overthrow their Republic.

Benner relates how Machiavelli rose as an advisor in the Florentine Republic, advancing the city's interests as a diplomat and military strategist, only to become a political pariah when the Republic was defeated. His egalitarian politics made him an enemy of the Medici family, and his secular outlook put him at odds with religious zealots. But he soon learned to mask his true convictions, becoming a great artist of foxlike dissimulation. Machiavelli's masterpiece, The Prince, was in fact a critique of princely power, but the critique had to be veiled, written as it was after the Medici triumphed over the Republic.

In Be Like the Fox, the most accurate and compelling portrait of Machiavelli yet, Benner recounts the gripping story of a brilliant political thinker, showing that Machiavelli's ideas - about democratic institutions, diplomacy, and freedom - are more important than ever.

©2017 Erica Benner (P)2017 Gildan Media LLC Consciousness & Thought Europe Philosophers Philosophy Politicians Politics & Activism Professionals & Academics Renaissance Biography Pope Royalty Middle Ages

Critic reviews

"Erica Benner convincingly argues [that] there was a great deal more to Machiavelli...She interweaves his own words with those of his contemporaries, as well as setting him in the context of his world. The result is a rich, vivid, and endlessly surprising portrayal of the man and his times." (Tracy Borman, BBC Book Review)
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The author does yeoman work of showing the real Niccolò Machiavelli and his life. The primary problem is that the narrating sounds like a kindergarten storytime reading for pre-schoolers. It gets grating quickly. There aren't that many good bio's of Machiavelli out there and this one gets ruined by the reader. One can tell how much quality research went into this book to re-create a republic that existed while Columbus was still meandering around the Caribbean and calling it India. Machiavelli was essentially a mid level Florentine diplomat, part-time playwright and amateur historian/philosopher. His major work, "The Discourses on Livy" is largely overlooked in favor of his more salacious "The Prince". Looking at "The Prince" as satire is novel. The book is well worth the read, if not the listen.

Storytime of Discourse

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Great book about the late 1400s and early 1500s surrounding Machiavelli’s story alongside his friends and political enemies. You can sense his side of the story as well as personality, very happy to have read/hear this book.

Amazing book

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Erica Benner gives context to Machiavelli and his role as a diplomat and advisor to leaders of the 15th and early 16th century. Machiavelli is not depicted as a supporter but as a clever advisor to tyrannic leaders of Florence and regions of Italian power. What Benner reminds one of is that there is no country called Italy at this point in history.

Benner implies “The Prince” is a compilation of Machiavelli’s life as a diplomat. She suggests “The Prince” reflects on the dual nature of leadership with one side beneficent, the other maleficent. Bennet's history suggests Machiavelli dies penniless and in obscurity because of his sly political fencing with great powers like the Borgia's and Medici's.

Machiavelli’s life story shows two leadership styles that effectively lead Italy's city-states. In Benner’s opinion, Machiavelli’s life experience reinforces belief that beneficent (more democratic and enabling) rather than maleficent (autocratic, and top down) leadership is best. She argues “The Prince” satirically criticizes the second and extolls the first.

LEADERSHIP

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The book was informative and enjoyable overall, but the narrator sounded like she was reading a children's book.

Could've been better with a different narrator.

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In this recasting of Machiavelli through critical scholarship and retelling of his life through his own journals, writings, public records and historical events we see the man who gave his life for his republic and sought to simultaneously ensnare strong men in their own hunger for power and reveal to the world the illegitimacy of such princes that claim natural order and divine right in their brutal self interested rule. Revolutionary, Ethicist, Republican and Satirical Writer.

Machiavelli, Man of the People

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Awesome story and a new aspect of Machiavelli I didn't know. Anyhow the narrator destroyed it by terrible narrating. It completely feels like she's reading something she doesn't understand.

Very uninspired performance. Sounds. Like. Reading.

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this is a well-researched book on Machiavelli full of many quotes and leaves me with the desire to research more.

Great perspective on Machiavelli

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Content good and timely. Poor choice of narrator, whose sing-song voice is most irritating, more suitable to children’s books.

Good audiobook, bad reader

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It is a pity that an ill-chosen narrator can make a mockery of an otherwise excellent book. I wanted the information that “Be Like the Fox” contained. But after three chapters, could no longer stand the chirpy, sing-song, breathless delivery of Karen Saltus, which would have been perfect for “Sleeping Beauty”. So disappointing!

Karen Saltus should narrate children’s books

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"Be Like the Fox" is one of the few nonfiction books that I enjoyed both reading and listening to.

It's written as a story, popular biography told in the present tense. It introduces Machiavelli's life and discusses his political philosophy only as fits into his story. Unlike in her scholarly works, Benner calls him "Niccolò" because her main primary sources are letters, not official documents and third person reports

Audible's description provides a good content summary, so I'll address the performance.

Karen Saltus narrates in a "melodious voice," also called emphatic prosody. She uses exaggerated intonation to stress key words and phrases, guide interpretation, and hold listeners' attention. Unlike child directed speech ("story time for preschoolers"), she talks at a normal pitch and rate, in a smooth, continuous flow. She doesn't speak slowly, with exaggerated enunciation, pauses between sentences, or stress certain words for no apparent purpose.

The melodious voice is normal for motivational speaking and newscasting. Saltus normally narrates career and self-help audiobooks. The book begins, "Gildan Media presents: 'Your Coach in a Box.'"

An upbeat motivational style helps keep listeners' attention. A flatter style is more familiar, but it wouldn't have held my attention for 13½ hours. A gruff voice might have appealed more to some listeners, but it wouldn't have reflected Machiavelli's smooth talking, ironic, witty personality.

Though the narrator's cheerfulness is sometimes incongruous with the violent events she describes, like Robin Williams's patter as the Armed Forces Radio DJ in "Good Morning, Vietnam," the motivational style is appropriate. Author Erica Benner views Machiavelli's writings as self-help— not for aspiring tyrants like the Medici, who are already subject matter experts, but mainly for citizens who want to restore or keep a republic. He wanted to teach them to "recognize snares and avoid being trapped," like the fox.

For a more in-depth, scholarly approach, you can read Benner's "Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading" and "Machiavelli's Ethics" or listen to Alexander Lee's biography. This book is an excellent introduction.

Political Biography as "Your Coach in a Box"

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