how to rule the school

the lessons
from machiavelli
Ivan walcott
A very dangerous book for boys and girls

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 ‘Walcott is encouraging a new generation of manipulative,
power-hungry eleven year olds ... Good on him’
Charlie Higson

‘brings a historical villain to life, and introduces him to your kids’

Amanda Craig, The Times

‘a mixture of history, psychology and childish fun’

Christina Hardyment, The Independent

‘tells the stories of some of history’s greatest mistakes and the

sneeky sods who succeeded. A lot of fun’
Terry Deary, author of The Horrible Histories

“Wicked: in the old and new meaning of the word”

Nick Hornby

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 Published by Gruff 2009
How to Rule The School:
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
The Lessons from Machiavelli
Copyright © Ivan Walcott 2009
All illustrations © Tom Robertson 2009

Ivan Walcott has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
Ivan Walcott
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the with illustrations by Tom Robertson
publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that
in which it is published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

Gruff books
Ingram House,
72 Old High Street,
Bunbury,
London N1 5EG

ISBN 671860013426 (from January 2009)

ISBN 860013426

Papers used by Gruff are natural, recyclable products made from wood
grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform
to the environmental regulations of the country of origin
Gruff Books
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Cooper Ltd, Duffield,
Derbyshire Edinburgh London New York

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 Contents:
Also by Ivan Walcott Everything they didn’t want
Non-fiction
you to know
The Making of The Modern Leader: from Bonaparte
to Blair
introduction.....................1
New Earth: how advertising reshaped the world Luck..................................4
A Brief History of, Like, Everything : how the past Nasty or nice?................18
influenced a now that doesn’t look back Friends............................33
Fiction Enemies...........................49
HOW TO TAKE POWER..........60
The Power
How to hold onto power...72
Your word.......................84
Machiavelli’s story.....,...92

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 How to be lucky

In life, there are things you have control over

and things that just seem to happen. We
tend to blame the second group of things on
something called luck. Machiavelli wrote that
we can all suffer from bad luck but there are
ways of protecting ourselves against it. He gives
the example of a river that overflows.

f
I compare fortune to one of those
violent rivers which, when they are
enraged, flood the plains, tear down
trees and buildings, wash soil from
one place to deposit it in another

This is different from a little brother who makes

a mess of your room: the gush of water was
unexpected and uncontrollable.

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 f How to be lucky
Mac goes on about water…
Yet, although such is their nature,
it does not follow that when they
are flowing quietly one cannot
take precautions, constructing
dykes and embankments so that
when the river is in flood they
would keep to one channel or their
impetus be less wild and dangerous
He says that half of all events are controlled by
luck but we have control over the other half
(unless you are in possession of a two-sided
coin!).
Think about times when you have had bad
luck. People tend to talk about bad luck after
they’ve had a bit of success. So if you have
beaten the big villain on each level of your
game, but lose to the last one, you might say
something like ‘that’s just my luck’ -
6 7
dummy-final.indd 9-10
How to be lucky
This can also be expressed with the noise
RRRAAARRRGH .
Every problem has its solution.
• If you lost because you didn’t move fast
enough or pull off a special move,
then you know what to do.
• If you lost because your mum tripped on
the console’s plug and pulled it out,
then you know what to do.
• If you are particularly angry because you
didn’t save it, and you’ll have to start again,
then you know what to do.
The reason people have been moaning about
bad luck since the first caveman forgot to
keep the flint dry is that, for the most part, it is
something we can control but have forgotten
to do so.
13/04/2009 12:29:48
 How to be lucky How to be lucky

Machiavelli teaches us to make common sense
changes and work on weaknesses before
something bad happens.
The know-it-all.
The popular phrase ‘fortune favours the bold’
is another quote from Machiavelli.
He wrote that although it is wise to consider
the possible dangers and prepare for them,
many leaders have succeeded by seizing the
moment. This is because the person who gives
over too much time to considering the situation
could miss out on an opportunity.

This does not mean that the first person to do

So, to summarise... something will always be lucky. For example,
the first girl to kiss a boy, without asking if he
has had cold sores, might not benefit from the
don’t... experience.

florence beach

Machiavelli wrote that the young and bold

do... tend to be the lucky ones, but for these people
to continue to be successful they must prepare
for bad luck.
In The Prince, he used the example of Pope
Julius II.

8 9

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 How to be lucky How to be lucky

came into power late in his life but this made

The Story of Pope Julius II him as bold as a young man, as he tried to get
as much done as possible before his death.

Bologna . Venice
.

Bad can now mean good to some people, but
terrible means terrible to everyone. Pope Julius
II became known as Il Papa Terribile,‘The Ter-
rible Pope’. This does not mean that he was
really bad at poping. He never tripped on his
gown and he never accidentally put red socks
in with his washing.
He was called terrible because his enemies
were terrified of him (and ‘The Scary Pope’
didn’t catch on). In sixteenth-century Italy,
Popes were not just religious leaders, they were
in charge of the army.
Machiavelli was most impressed by Julius because
he seized the moment at every opportunity. He
the .
sea Rome
The Pope rules from the Vatican in Rome. The
example Mac gives of good leadership is when
Julius II had to decide how to conquer Bolo-
gna, to the north.
The Venetians (from Venice) and the King of
Spain wanted to take Bologna, and they could
have, but the pensioner-aged Pope surprised

10 11

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 nasty or nice

exercise

NASTy
or
you are a teacher

Do you think your students would work harder if

you were nasty or nice to them?

f Their love for me will make

them listen!

l
They will be too afraid
of me to disobey!

15

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 liar,
coming soon...
Machiavelli’s Story

His last words were ‘I desire to go to hell and not

to heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the com-

liar,
pany of Popes, Kings, and Princes, while in the
latter are only beggars, monks and apostles’.

Machiavelli did not want to be bad, he wanted

power. To him, power was everything but he was
denied it by a twist of fate. He was punished by

pants
leaders for revealing the truth but in doing so he
has become one of the most important writers
in history. Lies can lead to success but honesty is
what achieves glory in the long term.

The leaders Mac served have been forgotten

on
but his lessons live on.

the greatest tall tales in history

Ivan walcott
96

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 This is Ivan Walcott’s
fourth book but his first
aimed at younger readers.
‘Last year, I visited a class-
room to do research for my
next novel . It was strange
to see the room as an adult;
I could see the kids being ordered to do
things without any explanation, I instantly
remembered how annoying that was. That’s
when I decided to write a book that would
teach people how to get what they want’.

To learn more and play games visit

www.howtoruletheschool.co.uk

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 You know that little voice on your shoulder that
tells you to do bad things? Think of reading this
book as sending your bad self to school.
400 years ago, Nicollo Machiavelli wrote
about how to gain power and glory by
doing exactly what is good for you, not what is
good for everyone.
He wrote down how kings and princes could
great rulers, this book relates his science to
be
teachers and pupils.
Machiavelli's book was banned but his theories live
on. Historians argue over whether he was the first
honest politician or an evil genius
' '.

gruff
GrUff
ISBN 671-8-600-1342-6

books
booKS www.gruffbooks.co.uk
£6.99

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