Cunning, instructive, and amoral, this controversial bestseller distills 3, 000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. 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."
Law 1: Never Outshine the Master.
Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions.
Law 7: Get Others to Do the Work for You, but Always Take the Credit.
Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally.
Law 33: 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
They teach prudence, stealth, and mastery of one’s emotions, the art of deception, and the total absence of mercy. Like it or not, all have practical applications in real life.
Each law is illustrated with examples of observance or transgression drawn from history and featuring such famous figures as Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, Mao, Alfred Hitchcock, P.T. Barnum, Haile Selassie, Catherine the Great, and Socrates. Convincing, practical, sometimes shocking, this book will fascinate anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.