It is better to be feared than loved' - Niccolo Machiavelli in the bear pit of renaissance politics, a young florentine diplomat finds himself first hand observer on the history's most notorious family - the borgias. - a...It is better to be feared than loved' - Niccolo Machiavelli in the bear pit of renaissance politics, a young florentine diplomat finds himself first hand observer on the history's most notorious family - the borgias. - as did before - holds up a mirror to a turbulent moment of history, sweeping aside the myths to bring alive the real Borgia family; complicated, brutal, passionate and glorious. Here is a thrilling exploration of the house Of Borgia's doomed years, in the company of a young diplomat named Niccolo Machiavelli.