Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this international bestseller—over 2 million copies in print, in more than 20 languages—is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control. From world-renown author Robert Greene, whose other titles with Joost Elffers include The Art of Seduction and The 33 Strategies of War, this all-encompassing treatise on power has been engaging readers worldwide for 25 years.

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 and strategies 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, self-empowerment—or simply to understand the rules of the game.

452 pages
9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
Penguin Books (1st edition, 1998)