Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.

Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

Never outshine the master
Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies
Conceal your intentions
Always say less than necessary
So much depends on reputation : guard it with your life
Court attention at all cost
Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit
Make other people come to you : use bait if necessary
Win through your actions, never through argument
Infection : avoid the unhappy and the unlucky
Learn to keep people dependent on you
Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim
When asking for help, appeal to people's self-interest, never to their mercy or gratitude
Pose as a friend, work as a spy
Crush your enemy totally
Use absence to increase respect and honor
Keep others in suspended terror : cultivate an air of unpredictability
Do not build fortresses to protect yourself
isolation is dangerous
Know who you're dealing with
do not offend the wrong person
Do not commit to anyone
Play a sucker to catch a sucker : seem dumber than your mark
Use the surrender tactic : transform weakness into power
Concentrate your forces
Play the perfect courtier
Re-create yourself
Keep your hands clean
Play on people's need to believe to create a cultlike following
Enter action with boldness
Plan all the way to the end
Make your accomplishments seem effortless
Control the options : get others to play with the cards you deal
Play to people's fantasies
Discover each man's thumbscrew
Be royal in your own fashion : act like a king to be treated like one
Master the art of timing
Disdain things you cannot have : ignoring them is the best revenge
Create compelling spectacles
Think as you like but behave like others
Stir up waters to catch fish
Despise the free lunch
Avoid stepping into a great man's shoes
Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter
Work on the hearts and minds of others
Disarm and infuriate with the mirror effect
Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once
Never appear too perfect
Do not go past the mark you aimed for; in victory, learn when to stop
Assume formlessness