The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene, first published in 1998, is a practical guide for anyone who wants power, observes power, or wants to arm themselves against power. The laws are a derived from the lives of strategists and historical figures like Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Haile Selassie I, Carl von Clausewitz, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, and P.T. Barnum.
Each law has its own chapter, complete with a transgression of the law, observance of the law, and or a reversal. It is Greene's first book among the six that he has published so far.