Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating, Yet Dangerous Book
Review: This is one of the best books that I have ever read. Unfortunately it is also one that can easily be misunderstood or misused. First let me say what the book is. The book is a guide to amoral methods of gaining power. It gives 48 different "laws" to use to accomplish that. The 1st misunderstanding of the book is purely the fault of the authors. "Laws" is very misleading in this case. "Strategies" works much better, but isn't quite as marketable. Anyone who tries to follow all 48 laws simultaneously all the time will be sorely dissapointed. The book will not make you an expert power player. Yes, the book does contradict itself, but in real life different strategies are needed in different situations. It's still up to you which ones to use. This brings me to the next point. Yes, the book is a distillation of many great masters of power. And, as with any distillation, the end result is not as good. But the simple fact is that the great masters are fairly difficult and boring to take straight. The book is best used almost as a primer course. It makes reading the actual texts by Machiavelli and Sun Tzu much easier. Next, the book does not advocate the use of these ideas. It does not say "Here, everyone should do this." In fact, in expressly says that these laws are not right for everyone. Those who morals tell them not to act this way, shouldn't. The book is a study of strategies for gaining power which have worked for those in the past. The book also does not advocate any particular use for power. It does not say that one should gain power for its own sake, or that one should gain power to help others. It just says that if you want to have power, here are some ways to do it. It's up to you how to use the power. The cold, hard truth is that the methods described in the book do work. Every major wielder of power in history has used some of the rules to get that power. Gandhi was a master of the use of power - Law 6 "Court Attention At All Costs", Law 8 "Make Other's Come To You", Law 9 "Win Through Your Actions", Law 16 "Use Absence to Increase Respect." These were all methods used by Gandhi to take power from the British. The most important law in my opinion is Law 19, "Know Who You're Dealing With, Do Not Offend the Wrong Person." The person who does not treat the methods in hear with the proper respect and uses them rashly will violate this law over and over. The wise reader, however, will take Law 19 to heart and learn when to and when not to use the strategies, The laws themselves are neither moral nor immoral. How they are used defines their morality. I found the book to be a wealth of ideas and examples of what works and what doesn't work. The immorality of many of the laws is balanced by the fact that the more immoral your course of action seems, the more likely you are to violate Law 19. I recomend this book on many levels. It is a fascinating study of power, and the historical examples they use are equally interesting. I would have read it for that alone. On a larger scale it is a guidebook for those who feel that they are capable of gaining power, for whatever purporse, and are also prepared to accept the risk of failure and the pain that comes with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Read below!!
Review: If you're reading this and haven't bought the book, then you did yourself one huge favor. Here's why. The book gives examples of how certain con artists and swindlers act, and the book seems to suggest we follow their ways if we want to have power. And though they quote from respected books like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, they foul it up by taking certain passages out of context, not to mention fouling it up by having contradictory "laws." In summary, the "laws" support selfishness, trickery, and dishonesty. If one thinks that's power or that's reality, that person is sadly mistaken. Even Sun Tzu teaches humaneness and to avoid war or conflict if possilble, at the same time teaches strategy and thus winning. This book provides neither wisdom nor insight into winning.
Rating:
Summary: Live & Learn
Review: The implementation of the laws in this book may not be for everyone, particularly if you have a conscience, however, it is very useful to know when these laws are being used against YOU. I recommend reading it just to stay up to speed on how certain individuals behavior may be affecting you--who knows, maybe that psycho boss of yours has mastered all 48 Laws. I had a boss who once did even before this book was written, now I know what to look out for.
Rating:
Summary: Machiavelian
Review: Whenever I find someone I deal with that is trying to use one of the laws on me, I simply quote it to them or give them a copy of the book.Believe me, it brings them down to earth into the right perspective and shows them that people are aware of their devious ways, be them conscious or unconscious. I live in Venezuela and find the 48 laws as universally applicable.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing book, but...
Review: this book is incredible, but also depressing. It presents an accurate portrait of what is required to truly obtain and wield power, but you could also wind up being a wretchedly miserable person if you hew to it too closely. I would recommend that you purchase and read Lama Surya Das' "Awakening the Buddha Within" at the same time and find some middle way between the two.
Rating:
Summary: The cold, hard truth.
Review: This book can be unsettling. Sometimes a particular law goes against your basic human decency. But the book makes no excuses, nor should it. Each of the laws do, in fact, increase the user's power. Even if you do not feel comfortable using a particular law, it is useful to be able to recognize when it is being used against you. Since I have read this book I have noticed a difference in my professional life. I feel more in control which has made me happier both at and away from work. I've read too many books that could not make that kind of difference to not recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great primer on power...
Review: ...but how do I remember all the rules? In the future, you'll be able to recognize me, especially in contested corporate battlegrounds, by the shield on my arm: Elffers and Greene's POWER, powerfully arrayed.
Rating:
Summary: The book itself is a lie
Review: The great thing about this book is that the authors are the ones who are reaping the profits not the people who buy the book. It is also a sad fact that people have to go as low as this book to succeed. In my opinion people should just relax and do to others as you would like to be done to you (assuming you don't like pain). I'll tell you what this book will help you achieve. It's called getting whacked. That's right, you do this stuff to other people and when you hit the wrong guy or girl you will suffer the consequences. There are a lot more psychos out there today, just look at the Colorado school shootings. Also, I am intrigued in the way the author has reversals at the end of the majority of chapters. In other words, the same law he just gave you does not work all the times. Therefore, the exact opposite must be done in order to succeed. In other words each law in the book is basically right and wrong. That's my whole point. You don't need this book, just relax. Remember the majority of the rules are neutralized. People feel that buying a book is going to help them. If you can't help yourself, then a book is not going to help either.
Rating: 
Summary: Power for some of the People
Review: Jaguar Mark 2? Pshaw! Chateau Latour '49? Snort! You'll have to excuse me, I'm practising Law 36: "Disdain the things you cannot have". Frankly, it doesn't work. However, it's fortunate for people as ambitious and venal as you and I, that most of Robert Greene's other laws are ideal guides for modern behaviour, particularly in business or politics. Indeed, we can quickly build careers based on Law 7: "Get others to do the work for you but always take the credit." With the morals of vultures but the faces of angels (more of that asset later), we will quietly circle a stooge before winging down and tearing off gobbets of glory. Our hero should be Thomas Edison who allowed a naïve European scientist named Nikola Telsa to work 18-hour days, on the promise of a $50,000 bonus, to redesign Edison's primitive dynamos. When Telsa finally produced the new product and asked for his money Edison explained: "You don't understand our American humour", and offered a small pay rise instead. Guglielmo Marconi joined in the Telsa-baiting fun by broadcasting a signal across the English Channel in 1899 while making use of a patent Telsa had filed two years previously. Once again Telsa received no money and no credit. Law 7 segues nicely into Law 26: "Keep your hands clean". By using scapegoats and cat's-paws, our hands will never be soiled by mistakes or nasty deeds. The term cat's-paw, incidentally, comes from the fable in which the Monkey grabs the paw of his friend, the Cat, and uses it to scoop chestnuts out of the fire. While scapegoats are easily found (in fact I can loan you a couple), cat's-paws are more of a challenge to identify. Don't be put off. Follow the example of Cleopatra who had a double success with the cat's-paw method. She convinced Julius Caesar and later Marc Antony to decimate her unruly family members at little risk to herself. Mao Tse-tung also recognised the charm of Law 26. During the civil war, he convinced his rival Chiang Kai-shek to join forces against the invading Japanese. Chiang thought Mao had gone soft. Chiang believed that, once the combined Chinese forces had defeated the Japanese, the Nationalists could get back to the task of trouncing the Communists. With that delicious prospect in mind, Chiang agreed and ordered his troops into a conventional, debilitating war against the Japanese. The Communists on the other hand used less demanding hit-and-run guerrilla tactics to harry the Japanese. After the Japanese were finally shooed from the country, the weakened Nationalists found themselves confronted and finally beaten by the fighting-fit Communists. But what if prissy onlookers, watching you and I behave Monkey-like on the corporate or political stages, take umbrage at our anti-social, insensitive lifestyles? Well, phooey to them. In fact the angrier our enemies become the calmer and more objective we should stay. That's the essence of Law 30: "Stir up waters to catch fish". Be aware that anger and emotion are strategically counter productive. Tantrums neither intimidate nor inspire loyalty, they only create doubts and uneasiness about your power. Green points out that Napoleon lost more than his cool when, in front of his government ministers, he screamed at a serene Talleyrand: "You, by the way, are nothing but shit in silk stockings!" As they watched the apoplectic Napoleon become more and more unhinged, the ministers realised Tallyerand had successfully humiliated their leader by not responding in anger. While we are on the subject of counter-intuitive behaviour, remember the paranoid and the wary are often the easiest to deceive. Even if they hate you, pretend to be their friends. This is Law 3: "Conceal your intentions". Win your opponents' trust in one area and you have a smoke screen that blinds their view in another. Haile Selassie adopted this approach throughout his political life, luring his victims with sweet smiles and obsequiousness before attacking. In 1927, for example, the future Ethiopian emperor found only one warlord, Balcha, opposed him. To show his apparent willingness to be flexible, Selassie invited the recalcitrant Balcha to a banquet. Balcha sensed a plot and, leaving his army near Selassie's fort, brought along 600 loyal fighters to the event. But the extravagant banquet was trouble-free and a cocky Balcha saw an opportunity to return to crush seemingly intimidated Selassie. But when Balcha reached to his army's base, he found it deserted. While Balcha was at the banquet. another army allied with Selassie had arrived at the base with gold and cash, and bought all the weapons carried by Balcha's troops. Then, as Balcha and his remaining men attempted to flee, they found the escape routes blocked by the allied army and Selassie's soliders. Selassie, knowing that Balcha would sense the banquet was ploy and would bring his best fighters, had check-mated his enemy. Balcha was forced to surrender and enter a monastery. Not that your enemies are always the real threat. Author Greene, whose work in Hollywood and the media no doubt made him wary of the Janus mentality of friends, encourages those of you without enemies to make them. Once again, if you're running short, I can loan you some. Despite Green's often prim writing style (possibly be an in-joke as his sentence structure often resembles stiff translations of the works of Machiavelli and Sun-tzu) he is eminently readable. He has an excellent eye for a salutary history lesson. For example, he outlines how Talleyrand turned to his most hated enemy Fouché, head of the secret police, in an attempt to overthrow Napoleon. Bound by a common cause, rather than friendship, the two men went about their dastardly, if ultimately unsuccessful, deeds. Greene's sharply cynical offering, which is slightly at odds with his observation: "Do not be the court cynic ... you will irritate (people)", is crisply packaged by book designer Joost Elffers. The black and red typefaces - fit for a wiley Cardinal - are austere and elegant. But enough about them, let's talk about you and your angelic face. I'm going to let you into one of Green's little secrets. He believes you are perfect for the power game. The mistake many people make is to assume that deceivers are distressingly obvious as they spin their elaborate lies. In fact, the best deceivers utilise a bland front and avoid suspicion-raising extravagant words and gestures. That's why, armed with this book and with an eye on the Main Chance, you and I will be an unbeatable team. It's just a pity I can't trust you.
Rating:
Summary: EXELLENT
Review: I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE IN SPANISH ALS
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