Rating: 
Summary: Interesting book
Review: This book teaches you deceptive tactics on how to gain power. It has good historical examples for each law. I found them very interesting. The history helps you undersatnd the laws better and it is short. The book can be hard to undersatnd however. The laws are contradicting. This is not a "how to book". Different laws apply to different situations. Overall this book is worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: excellent book
Review: hmm... when I read it I was a little bit taken aback by what seemed like its "take-no-prisoners" attitude; however, then I read it again and enjoyed it immenselly. I have to say: Words of Wisdom. All the little bits of historical and litterary information are worth the price by themselves. But, most importantly, the book does not make any pretenses about its title: it is all about the power and how to acquire it, the power or ways to acquire it are not judged as good or bad, and that lack of hypocrisy was certainly appreciated. Well written, a pleasure to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Ouch
Review: You can buy not four copies but ten for your children so they "would" become CEO's ; You "can" become the most powerful person but PLEASE KNOW that if you become a CEO, or a powerful person by what this stupid book teaches you - IT'S ALL GONNA BE CRAWLING IN THIN ICE because this book teaches you the wrong way, the idiot way, the uncivilised way how to get where you want to.After all, why don't you ask yourself who this Robert Greene is to teach you how to become powerful? Does he have any qualifications? Did you ever him about him until you were attracted to his lovely book title? NO and we never will because according to what he wrote and adviced us "the weak" people what to do - he must be a very sore loser.
I mean only a sore loser would feel so insecure and doubtful - to suggest winnings and power strategies in the most cruelest ways.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: This is an excellent book for experienced users of power who wish to further their mastery. However, if you are not already experienced in using power in your everyday life, stay away from this book. These are advanced techniques that will blow up in the faces of power novices. However, once you are comfortable with the exercise of power, this book can be very helpful. There is a lot of information here and it will take several readings to get full value from this text. Not all laws will apply to your situation, but for the ones that do apply, there are a lot of subtlies to be appreciated. Highly recommended for power players.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: I absolutely love this book! I first picked it up when I started a new job about a year ago in corporate america( I was coming from a government job). I wasn't trying to gain power but moreso understand the powers that be and how they worked. This book gave me so much insight into how to play the politics game in corp. america (and there is a game being played there). I now understand what to say, when to say it and how to behave to accomplish goals that I may not have otherwise accomplished. My favorite rule is #1- "never outshine the master". This rule is so true;I find myself employing it almost daily and somehow still achieving the result that I want. This book even helps in dating b/c it shows you when you need to wait or when to pull back.
Some say that this and Greene's other book The Art of Seduction are "evil" and "malicious". I suppose they could be looked at that way. However, I think we also have to realize that others know how to instinctively weave their web around us unbeknownst to us. And because of that it behooves one to at least read these books and understand how NOT to be caught up in someone else's powerful and seductive web.
Rating: 
Summary: A How-To book for being deceptive and manipulative
Review: While this book is well-written and contains interesting historical references, I rate it low because of its theme. This book basically tells you how to deceive and manipulate people, how to be underhanded and down right evil! This is a study in anti-leadership. This book will not help readers gain power through leadership, trust-building, and credibility, which is what I thought it would be.
To its credit, it provides an interesting study in human behavior. It does help one recognize the games others around him/her are playing. It's sad to me that people behave in the ways described in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Wrong gift
Review: A lovely lady friend of mine in Arizona mailed me this book as a gift. At first I thought it would be helpful but after reading through it here and there I was astonished. I'd never heard of anyone being so malicious. He wanted me to turn my clients of twenty years into '...victims'. He suggests that I trick them with every means possible and then soak them. He forfeits, we can guess - the idea of "A good name is better than precious ointment".
His ideas work and are applicable only if - not unlike law - they are applicable in all places and at all times. For instance let's say I apply his principles to - his daughter. She needs a new roof and I arrive at her house ready to soak her bond dry. Does her father approve of me using his tactics in this case?
Rating:
Summary: Cynical, yes...but Realistic, too.
Review: If gaining power means using trickery, cunning and deceipt, then this book is the roadmap. In reading other reviews, I see that many are struck by the 'evil' that is obvioius in much of what Greene advocates here. He uses fascinating historical examples and quotations in support of his philosophies; like them or not, they lessons are hard to refute. It's just that they are distasteful. This is a cynical book. But there is a fine line between being cynical and realistic: this book is both. Five stars for depth, research, and an interesting take on the darker side of humanity; that doesn't mean you have to adopt it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I've read this book, and the stories and examples in it are wonoderful. Rather than just give a bunch of rules to follow and leave it at that, this book goes the extra mile and uses tons of real life anecdotes with famous historical figures to illustrate the laws in action. Also appreciated is this book's extensive bibliography: I've gone on to purchase many of the books in the bibliography through Amazon and through used bookstores (for the out-of-print books), and these further purchases have further illuminated many of the principles set forth in the book. Make no mistake, though, this book is a fine read on it's own, even without any further supplemental reading from the bibiography.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you think, makes you dream...
Review: I took a peek at this book in the psychology section of a book store. I'd heard nothing about it before (even though it was a national best seller). When I read here and there, I could tell this was not a book filled with fluff. It is a well-written listing of rules one should live by to get ahead in a dog-eat-dog world. The author uses historical accounts to illustrate instances when a rule was abided, and when a rule was overlooked. And there is more pithy analysis that follows the examples. I feel if one implemented this approach into daily living, one's quality of life would improve in many ways. This book is more instructive than the Bible or the Buddha's teachings. For people who are not overly street-smart and think the world is an unfair place, you really should check what you're up against. Excellent, entertaining, informative reading.
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