Niccolo Machiavelli 

May 3, 1469 to June 21, 1527

Born in Florence Italy & Died in Florence Italy

Author of The Prince, and a good candidate for the author who is most widely discussed by people who have never read him. Machiavelli certainly had what you might call a flexible set of moral standards, but he is not nearly as Machiavellian as you might expect - his amorality has been greatly exaggerated. 

Quote

". . . it is not the splendor of jewels and gold that makes the enemy submit themselves to you but only fear of arms."

Off-Site Resource

Website With A Timeline Of The Life of Niccolo Machiavelli 

Bibliography

The Prince - 1513

Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius - 1512 to 1521

The Art of War - 1521

Machiavelli's works are available at no charge from Project Gutenberg

An index of all author pages on Happy Dead Trees