The Prince

I picked up this novel thinking it would be in the same genre as "Don Quixote" but boy was I mistaken! The Prince by Machiavelli is analogous to Chanakya's Arthashastra. Machiavelli documents the political situation in Italy in the 1600s and writes about the various initiatives that a prince must undertake to consolidate his position and build an empire.

Though written in the 1600s, the book is anachronistic and still applies to contemporary politics. Hopefully the Prince in waiting will read this book.