I know a lot of the reviews found this book quite confronting but for me, it was life changing.
If you are dealing with very manipulative or difficult people as I am, the book is useful in strategy in how to side step the worst of their behaviour or schemes which target you. It is particularly useful if you operate in some kind of modern “court” or community where your enemy also operates such as a workplace, church or other shared community. Importantly the book allowed me to stop feeling guilty about taking common sense self protective measures.
Also there is useful advice for people meeting others for the first time. Humans really are “foreign countries” as the author puts it and that’s why you should take your time to study them carefully before rushing into a committed relationship which is hard to get out of later on.

48 Laws of Power
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– Unabridged
Robert Greene
(Author),
Richard Poe
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HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books
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Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws. This bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other infamous strategists. The 48 Laws of Power will fascinate any listener interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
©2000 Robert Greene and Joost Elffers (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
- Listening Length23 hours and 6 minutes
- Audible release date1 May 2015
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB00WYCS71G
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
Listening Length | 23 hours and 6 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Robert Greene |
Narrator | Richard Poe |
Audible.com.au Release Date | 01 May 2015 |
Publisher | HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B00WYCS71G |
Best Sellers Rank | 70 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Political History & Theory 1 in Political Science (Audible Books & Originals) 1 in Ethics & Morality (Books) |
Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
42,384 global ratings
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Top reviews from Australia
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Reviewed in Australia on 10 September 2019
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8 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 27 March 2022
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Reading through the book you'll quickly see where you've gone wrong in a lot of ventures. Reading this book has really helped me with my career.
I've been sacked twice in my career. I never understood why, I was great at my job. I've always been very technical. Rule #1, never outshine your master. I always had a great relationship with my boss' boss. They could see my technical ability. But I've rarely gotten on with my manager. I thought my doing my job well that I would be okay but no. When trouble arose I would just do more work and do it better which made things worse as it made my manager even more secure. It reaches a point when your manager looks for the smallest excuse to bad mouth you to their boss. In a nutshell, don't outshine your master. I find that tough, but if the greatest artists and professionals of the past can humble themselves, then so can you.
I've been sacked twice in my career. I never understood why, I was great at my job. I've always been very technical. Rule #1, never outshine your master. I always had a great relationship with my boss' boss. They could see my technical ability. But I've rarely gotten on with my manager. I thought my doing my job well that I would be okay but no. When trouble arose I would just do more work and do it better which made things worse as it made my manager even more secure. It reaches a point when your manager looks for the smallest excuse to bad mouth you to their boss. In a nutshell, don't outshine your master. I find that tough, but if the greatest artists and professionals of the past can humble themselves, then so can you.
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Reviewed in Australia on 17 January 2021
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Overall, a highly recommended book for anyone wishing to gain power, protect themselves from power, or learn about power.
While some of the laws appear archaic and not so relevant to modern times, the laws do provide general guidance and interesting ideas with which to play with when navigating the social landscape, as well as protection from those who may attempt to use power for antisocial purposes. In addition, this book may be read as an entertaining account of the use of power by various people throughout history.
The physical copy of the book was very nice.
While some of the laws appear archaic and not so relevant to modern times, the laws do provide general guidance and interesting ideas with which to play with when navigating the social landscape, as well as protection from those who may attempt to use power for antisocial purposes. In addition, this book may be read as an entertaining account of the use of power by various people throughout history.
The physical copy of the book was very nice.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 21 August 2021
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This book will either change your life for the better, or for the worse. Be careful how you interpret the laws and always cease caution when attempting to recreate these scenarios in real life.
In saying this, I’ve noticed a HUGE change when applying certain laws into my own life and the way power is all in the mind and can be achieved through simple persistence.
In saying this, I’ve noticed a HUGE change when applying certain laws into my own life and the way power is all in the mind and can be achieved through simple persistence.
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Reviewed in Australia on 11 July 2019
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I am suspected of saying, but this but brings a lot of wise knowledge from the past in modern words.
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 9 June 2020
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I have the App and free downloads which i have used while managing my team. I have now bought the book and it is even better, with more information and explanations on the 48 laws.
I consult this book when trying to understand personalities at work and business as a whole.
I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is interested in progressing their career.
I consult this book when trying to understand personalities at work and business as a whole.
I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is interested in progressing their career.
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Reviewed in Australia on 5 September 2014
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Situational awareness, strategy, and self control are valuable assets that Robert Greene encourages the reader to harness. You may find some of his observations and advice unpalatable, as I did, but I can't deny the usefulness of knowing about such things.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 3 April 2022
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Great book to read when board very helpful!
Top reviews from other countries

MJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
First depressing, then exciting, but always interesting.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 August 2018Verified Purchase
I have lost my innocence from reading this book and realised that there really are people who are out to get you (paranoia aside). People exist like the people described in this book who will manipulate the situation and use you for their own ends. While this book outright advocates that you do this (because other people are bound to be doing it so why don't you join them and get them before they get you, which is a highly flawed argument), this is clearly not always the best course of action.
However, this book has helped me in ways that I did not expect. I am more aware of what other people are doing, I am actually more concerned with the welfare of others, and I realised that it is important to at least have power over your own life so I am now a much more in control person who is more disciplined. I am also more excited about life somewhat, knowing that you can have fun improving yourself and your position in life and in the world.
I am not sure that I will follow each and every rule of the book, but it's an interesting read and some of the laws are fairly neutral such as being careful about what you say to people, not always showing all of your cards and never appearing or being smarter than those above you, especially in a professional work situation. Laws such as these are good for self-preservation, if nothing else.
But if you take everything in this book as gospel, then you may lose your humanity (as other reviewers have said) and/or you may realise that the heights of power are not what you wanted after all. Ultimately, take this book with a barrel of salt and maybe go for the more morally neutral laws, lest you be completely corrupted by the dark side of the world.
However, this book has helped me in ways that I did not expect. I am more aware of what other people are doing, I am actually more concerned with the welfare of others, and I realised that it is important to at least have power over your own life so I am now a much more in control person who is more disciplined. I am also more excited about life somewhat, knowing that you can have fun improving yourself and your position in life and in the world.
I am not sure that I will follow each and every rule of the book, but it's an interesting read and some of the laws are fairly neutral such as being careful about what you say to people, not always showing all of your cards and never appearing or being smarter than those above you, especially in a professional work situation. Laws such as these are good for self-preservation, if nothing else.
But if you take everything in this book as gospel, then you may lose your humanity (as other reviewers have said) and/or you may realise that the heights of power are not what you wanted after all. Ultimately, take this book with a barrel of salt and maybe go for the more morally neutral laws, lest you be completely corrupted by the dark side of the world.
322 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don’t rate this book at all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2019Verified Purchase
I just bought this book and in the opening pages your told to basically obey your master” referring to work bosses in a modern term. I disagree completely in the context it’s written, you want to dumb down your shine so your master can outshine you. Is one lesson this book includes, if you really are submitting to someone else’s opinion, you lose fullstop, in doing so you give up the one thing you own in this world, that’s yourself. Staying authentic and shining should be the key to life and your “master” should want to see you shine more than them.
214 people found this helpful
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Carlos Neto
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 June 2019Verified Purchase
I don't recommend this book to everyone...in my opinion this books is very good for people that were used and kind hearted people...Not everyone will be able to understand the value of this book people might say it's a immoral book, however it's very helpful if you are a very altruistic person it will help balance your extremely kind personality...
167 people found this helpful
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Janaka Goonasekera
2.0 out of 5 stars
These rules of power that will get you alone, broke and turn you in to a loser/wanna-be abuser
Reviewed in the United States on 14 October 2018Verified Purchase
All ethics, decency, courtesy and fairness falls out of the Golden Rule - "Treat others as you would like to be treated". So the question is what happens when we are all those things, for the best of our ability, but we get treated poorly by a narcissist that abuses our kindness. Do we the embrace the psychology of our abuser and accept that is how the world is and that it was OUR fault for being naive?
These rules are the revenge fantasy of a wounded child archetype. They are highly dysfunctional in any healthy community, relationship, friendships of family. If you practice them, you will end up losing the most valuable of friendships and other relationships that would have helped you out the most in life, and keep you in that hell.
If you want to be able to recognize psychopathic indicators in others, read up some books on modern psychology that addresses that directly. It is not very hard to recognize such people.
I heard this is the most popular book ordered in US prisons. That should tell you something.
These rules are the revenge fantasy of a wounded child archetype. They are highly dysfunctional in any healthy community, relationship, friendships of family. If you practice them, you will end up losing the most valuable of friendships and other relationships that would have helped you out the most in life, and keep you in that hell.
If you want to be able to recognize psychopathic indicators in others, read up some books on modern psychology that addresses that directly. It is not very hard to recognize such people.
I heard this is the most popular book ordered in US prisons. That should tell you something.
2,194 people found this helpful
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J.S. Bach
4.0 out of 5 stars
DANGER: read at your own risk
Reviewed in the United States on 15 November 2017Verified Purchase
there seems to be a lot of love and hate surrounding this book, so if you are curious but unsure, this review should help you decide whether or not to buy the book, and how it will impact you
First, to understand the 48 laws of power, you must know two key ideas
1. you CAN NOT escape the power game. thinking you can "not participate" is as foolish as thinking that you could somehow escape gravity or make the sun stand still. Robert Greene explains why in the intro with some excellent examples
2. the 48 laws of power are neither good nor evil; they are just LAWS. If someone pushed a man off a cliff would you blame gravity for for his demise? This is the mindset you must adopt in order to learn a lot from this book.
Things I Liked
- NEW PARADIGM
after reading the 48 laws, you will never see the world the same way again. once you understand some of these laws you will see many underlying currents and motives you did not see before.
- INCREASES POWER
one of the main reasons to buy the book. you wil become exponentially more powerfull by knowing and understanding these laws
-CRYSTAL CLEAR
every law is clearly outlined with "transgression" of the law, "observance" of the law, keys to power, and a "reversal"
-GREAT STORIES
the 48 laws are packed with mindblowing and sometimes humorous stories of people in history practicing these laws. this is helpful as some of the concepts are quite abstract.
What I didn't like
-RISKY
an old proverb says " A man who plays with snakes will eventually be bitten". If you begin to use the 48 Laws improperly, you could get yourself in some dangerous situations, lose friends, piss off a lot a people, and destroy relationships
- REQUIRES DISCERNMENT
if you you are looking for a highly concrete book that the says "do xyz and you will accomplish vyx" look elsewhere. the Laws require good judgement and and and prospecting nature to practice and apply
-NOT FOR EVERYONE
If you are aghast at the idea of manipulation and deceit then read with caution.
OVERALL: If you want to have more power or a better understanding of why different situations turn out the the way they do, you should definitely read the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. If you want to be naive, easily manipulated, weak, you should ignore this book and go watch some netfilx.
Thanks for reading
First, to understand the 48 laws of power, you must know two key ideas
1. you CAN NOT escape the power game. thinking you can "not participate" is as foolish as thinking that you could somehow escape gravity or make the sun stand still. Robert Greene explains why in the intro with some excellent examples
2. the 48 laws of power are neither good nor evil; they are just LAWS. If someone pushed a man off a cliff would you blame gravity for for his demise? This is the mindset you must adopt in order to learn a lot from this book.
Things I Liked
- NEW PARADIGM
after reading the 48 laws, you will never see the world the same way again. once you understand some of these laws you will see many underlying currents and motives you did not see before.
- INCREASES POWER
one of the main reasons to buy the book. you wil become exponentially more powerfull by knowing and understanding these laws
-CRYSTAL CLEAR
every law is clearly outlined with "transgression" of the law, "observance" of the law, keys to power, and a "reversal"
-GREAT STORIES
the 48 laws are packed with mindblowing and sometimes humorous stories of people in history practicing these laws. this is helpful as some of the concepts are quite abstract.
What I didn't like
-RISKY
an old proverb says " A man who plays with snakes will eventually be bitten". If you begin to use the 48 Laws improperly, you could get yourself in some dangerous situations, lose friends, piss off a lot a people, and destroy relationships
- REQUIRES DISCERNMENT
if you you are looking for a highly concrete book that the says "do xyz and you will accomplish vyx" look elsewhere. the Laws require good judgement and and and prospecting nature to practice and apply
-NOT FOR EVERYONE
If you are aghast at the idea of manipulation and deceit then read with caution.
OVERALL: If you want to have more power or a better understanding of why different situations turn out the the way they do, you should definitely read the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. If you want to be naive, easily manipulated, weak, you should ignore this book and go watch some netfilx.
Thanks for reading


J.S. Bach
Reviewed in the United States on 15 November 2017
First, to understand the 48 laws of power, you must know two key ideas
1. you CAN NOT escape the power game. thinking you can "not participate" is as foolish as thinking that you could somehow escape gravity or make the sun stand still. Robert Greene explains why in the intro with some excellent examples
2. the 48 laws of power are neither good nor evil; they are just LAWS. If someone pushed a man off a cliff would you blame gravity for for his demise? This is the mindset you must adopt in order to learn a lot from this book.
Things I Liked
- NEW PARADIGM
after reading the 48 laws, you will never see the world the same way again. once you understand some of these laws you will see many underlying currents and motives you did not see before.
- INCREASES POWER
one of the main reasons to buy the book. you wil become exponentially more powerfull by knowing and understanding these laws
-CRYSTAL CLEAR
every law is clearly outlined with "transgression" of the law, "observance" of the law, keys to power, and a "reversal"
-GREAT STORIES
the 48 laws are packed with mindblowing and sometimes humorous stories of people in history practicing these laws. this is helpful as some of the concepts are quite abstract.
What I didn't like
-RISKY
an old proverb says " A man who plays with snakes will eventually be bitten". If you begin to use the 48 Laws improperly, you could get yourself in some dangerous situations, lose friends, piss off a lot a people, and destroy relationships
- REQUIRES DISCERNMENT
if you you are looking for a highly concrete book that the says "do xyz and you will accomplish vyx" look elsewhere. the Laws require good judgement and and and prospecting nature to practice and apply
-NOT FOR EVERYONE
If you are aghast at the idea of manipulation and deceit then read with caution.
OVERALL: If you want to have more power or a better understanding of why different situations turn out the the way they do, you should definitely read the 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. If you want to be naive, easily manipulated, weak, you should ignore this book and go watch some netfilx.
Thanks for reading
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