Product Description

From bestselling author Robert Greene comes a brilliant distillation of the strategies of war that can help us gain mastery in the modern world. Spanning world civilisations, and synthesising dozens of political, philosophical, and religious texts, The 33 Strategies of War is a comprehensive guide to the subtle social game of everyday life. Based on profound, timeless lessons, it is abundantly illustrated with examples of the genius and folly of everyone from Napoleon to Margaret Thatcher and Hannibal to Ulysses S. Grant, as well as diplomats, captains of industry and Samurai swordsmen. Click here for the author's website.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20590 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"'Very good...an enormous number of directed anecdotes from warfare, politics and the arts' Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday 'Entertaining...mostly due to the Rambo-inspired mentality that oozes from every khaki-ed, muscle-bound phrase' Daily Telegraph 'Translatable to virtually every facet of daily life...a rich mine of ideas and information...readable and stimulating' Scotland on Sunday"

Irish Times
'Forget cheery self-help books...Robert Greene advocates some hyper-Machiavellian solutions to contemporary problems.'

About the Author
Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power and The Art of Seduction (both from Profile), has a degree in Classical Studies and has been an editor at Esquire and other magazines. He is also a playwright and lives in Los Angeles. Click here for his website.

Customer Reviews

Absoloutely Brilliant!
This is a book for all those deep thinkers out there.
I bought this book and the most I digested is a chapter a day, the way I see it is "its one thing understanding something, quite another knowing and applying it".

It shows us how the 33 startegies can be applied in our daily life when faced with those little everyday wars.

If you understand Sun Tzu's Art of war thoroughly you may not have much to learn from this book, but still interesting and does show how many in history applied these war principles to gain an upperhand from Samurai Grandmasters to Political leaders such as Margaret Thatcher.

Overall an interesting read and a great self help book. There'll be a chapter in there for everyone mine personally was chapter 4 bit long to explain right now but I'm sure some of these tactics outlined will bring most of you a smirk if not a smile at some point in the book. : )

Fantastice
I thought 48 Laws of Power was a brilliant book but didn't manage to plough my way through the Art of Seduction. However, just reading the title I knew I had to buy The 33 Strategies of War.

And it is brilliant, I'm just 20 pages away from the end of the book now.

One thing I have found is that the book makes you think very deeply, remembering events in the past and how you might have applied these strategies to make things happen differently, so I find it's better to read when you are fully awake in the morning rather than last thing at night. I have found that if I try and read too much at once then I don't get so much value out of it because each chapter is worth thinking about in detail.

It does make you rather Machiavellian in your everyday thinking and you do need to think about your own sense of morality and make sure the book doesn't corrupt you.

For this reason I suspect that just like 48 Laws of Power I will also be periodically re-reading this book for years to come.

Erudite discussion of classic war strategies...and life management advice
Military and business strategists agree that if you cannot contend against others, you will quickly get left behind. The problem is, most people think and act tactically - not strategically. Robert Greene's intelligent book can help you change your approach. It takes a fascinating, in-depth look at some of the world's most famous master military strategists: Napoleon Bonaparte, Sun-tzu, Alexander the Great, Carl von Clausewitz, Erwin Rommel, Hannibal and many more. Greene organizes the sagacious thinking of these masterminds into 33 strategies, drawn from mostly from warfare but also from business, politics, entertainment and nature. He provides concrete ideas on how to put these cerebral concepts to practical use. The information is packed in tight. Fascinating accent pieces run in the outer margins, but alas, in small, red italics. We highly recommend this remarkable book that explains how to meet your challenges with the best battle-tested strategies.