The 48 Laws Of Power: Robert Greene (The Modern Machiavellian Robert Greene) - Softcover

Greene, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861972784 ISBN 13: 9781861972781

Publisher: Profile Books, 2000

Synopsis

Drawn from 3,000 years of the history of power, this is the definitive guide to help readers achieve for themselves what Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, Louis XIV and Machiavelli learnt the hard way. Law 1: Never outshine the master Law 2: Never put too much trust in friends; learn how to use enemies Law 3: Conceal your intentions Law 4: Always say less than necessary. The text is bold and elegant, laid out in black and red throughout and replete with fables and unique word sculptures. The 48 laws are illustrated through the tactics, triumphs and failures of great figures from the past who have wielded - or been victimised by - power.

About this title

Review:

"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power...while others decrease it and even ruin us."

The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit," or: "Discover each man's thumbscrew." Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with "keys to power," potential "reversals" (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew); the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up- to-date as it is timeless. --Amazon.com

Review:

'Invaluable manual on the use and abuse of power... indispensable and often-cited influence on many of America's most successful rappers' -- Sunday Times Magazine

About this edition

• Publisher: Profile Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1861972784
• ISBN 13: 9781861972781
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 452