The Prince written by Machiavelli, a representative writer of the Renaissance, can be said to be a world-famous political masterpiece, which is very practical and has a proper instruction to teach people how to be emperors. Monarchs all over the world naturally regard it as a pillow book. Some people say that this book is notorious because the author puts forward a view that in order to realize its political rule, monarchs can ignore the shackles of morality and law, and monarchs must learn to be as cruel and cunning as lions and foxes in order to become a successful monarch.

Napoleon, a generation of French heroes, had a special liking for this book, and he commented on it page by page. After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon's soldiers found the book "The Prince" which he had annotated on his chariot. 18 16 Napoleon's Annotated Edition The Prince was published. At present, the original has been lost, but experts have not raised any doubts about the authenticity of this book. Napoleon loved this book all his life. As can be seen from his notes, he made notes on this book in every important period, from being a general and in power to being an emperor and exiled. Learning this book plays a very important role in studying the emergence and change of Napoleon's thought.

Napoleon once said that he was a man who only engaged in politics and didn't like women and gambling very much. Machiavelli, the author of The Prince, also said that he only liked to talk about the country all his life and didn't like the way of profit and loss. This is why they can still spark their thoughts a hundred years later. The era of Napoleon's rule coincided with the era when machiavellianism was rampant in Europe. Napoleon really regarded himself as the new monarch and shaped himself according to the monarch's requirements. He thinks the book "The Prince" is tailor-made for himself.

Napoleon was a workaholic, and he himself was a talkative man. Among his numerous notes, we can see that he made a corresponding comment on the events that happened in France at that time and the contents discussed by the monarch, and then added a note, which was very substitutive. From Napoleon's comments, the reader did not find that Napoleon's actions were beyond the scope of the monarch's discussion. It can be said that the monarchy is a mirror image of Napoleon. Napoleon was deeply influenced by Machiavelli's political thought, and he also despised the bondage of morality, traditional customs and laws. Another reason why The Monarchy attracted Napoleon was that it contained a lot of political thoughts and theories, as well as a keen observation of human thought and behavior, especially psychology.