The Charterhouse of Parma

“An epic tale of war, love, sex, politics, and religion … An action-packed narrative.” —The New Yorker“The novel that Machiavelli would write if he were living banished from Italy in the 19th century … [Stendhal] lay[s] out in meticulous detail thousands of rules and stratagems that anxious insiders in any princely court could adopt to preserve their status, their livelihoods and their freedom—or try to, at least… . Stendhal’s pointers might prove invaluable to any of today’s grandees, or aspirants to the role… . With his imagination, [he has] evened Machiavelli’s odds for those caught up in the game.” —The New York Times

Henri Marie Beyle (1783-1842) had a post in the Ministry of War and followed Napoleon’s campaigns before retiring to Italy. Here, as ‘Stendhal’, he began writing on art, music and travel. He later wrote novels, literary criticism, and various biographical and autobiographical works.

John Sturrock is Consulting Editor for the London Review of Books, a literary critic, travel writer, and translator. His translations include novels by Stendhal and Hugo, one volume of the new Proust translation- Sodom and Gomorrah, and most recently (with Jeremy Harding) a volume of Rimbaud’s poems and letters.

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