It must be remembered that it preceded the great work of Guicciardini by some years, and that before the date of its appearance the annalists of Italy had been content with records of events, personal impressions, and critiques of particular periods.

Machiavelli was the first to contemplate the life of a nation in its continuity, to trace the operation of political forces through successive generations, to contrast the action of individuals with the evolution of causes over which they had but little control, and to bring the salient features of the national biography into relief by the suppression of comparatively unimportant details.

By thus applying the philosophical method to history, Machiavelli enriched the science of humanity with a new department.

There is something in his view of national existence beyond the reach of even the profoundest of the classical historians.

His style is adequate to the matter of his work.