Greene initially formulated some of the ideas in The 48 Laws of Power while working as a writer in Hollywood and concluding that today's power elite shared similar traits with powerful figures throughout history.[4] In 1995, Greene worked as a writer at Fabrica, an art and media school, and met a book packager named Joost Elffers.[5][6] Greene pitched a book about power to Elffers and six months later, Elffers requested that Greene write a treatment.[5]

Although Greene was quite unhappy in his job, he was comfortable and thought that writing a proper book proposal was too risky in his situation.[7] However, at the time Greene was rereading his favorite biography about Julius Caesar and took inspiration from Caesar's decision to cross the Rubicon River and fight Pompey, thus inciting Caesar's civil war.[7] Greene wrote the treatment, which would later become The 48 Laws of Power.[7] He would note this as the turning point of his life.[7]

https://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197