Game of Thrones author George RR Martin talks to
Alan Yentob about the Machiavellian characters in his fantasy novel
series A Song of Ice and Fire.
As well as drawing upon the traditions of fantasy literature,
Martin explains how the "grittiness" of real English and Scottish
history influenced his world of Westeros. He says he was also inspired
by the plotting and intrigue of Machiavelli's era during the Italian
renaissance.He discusses differences in characterisation between his books and HBO's Game of Thrones television series.
Martin is speaking to BBC One's imagine... to mark the 500th anniversary of Niccolò Machiavelli's book The Prince
