About this title: Greene's first two guides, "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The Art of Seduction," espouse profound, timeless lessons from events in history to help readers vanquish an enemy or ensnare an unsuspecting victim. Now, he crafts a brilliant distillation of the strategies of battle that can help readers in the modern world.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 1/19/2006
ISBN-13:9780670034574ISBN:0670034576
Description: Good. 0670034576 Clean text. Binding loosening. No loose or missing pages though. SATISF GNTD + SHIPS W/IN 24 HRS. Sorry, no APO deliveries. Ships in a padded envelope with free tracking. 44, 939. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780143112785ISBN:0143112783
Description: Very Good+ 9780143112785. Light wear to cover. Otherwise the book is in perfect condition; text is clean, binding tight. Psychology. Pasadena's finest independent new and used bookstore.; Joost Elffers Books; 1.1 x 9 x 6.5 Inches; 496 pages. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PROFILE BOOKS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781861979780ISBN:1861979789
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 416 pages. Offers 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, this comprehensive guide focuses on the subtle social game of everyday life. (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Profile
Date Published: 07/06/2007
ISBN-13:9781861979780ISBN:1861979789
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780143112785ISBN:0143112783
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. as described. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 471 p. Joost Elffers Books. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780143112785ISBN:0143112783
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. as described. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 471 p. Joost Elffers Books. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 2006-01-19
ISBN-13:9780670034574ISBN:0670034576
Description: New. Brand New book! Most orders ship within 1 business day with confirmation. May hve publisher's inventory mark. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! We ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Description: Like New. Book appears unread, but may have a publisher's mark or minor shelf wear. We are the Twin Cities' largest independent book store. Notes: Please note: This is the audio version of this title.; read more
"This book is lousy. I was constantly amazed at the author's ability to say absolutely nothing through so much of the book. If you like pseudo-philosophical catch phrases like "If you want to win a battle, fight your battle to win" Ok, I just made that up, but it would have gone along fine in the book. It's filled with all these pithy says that really don't inform the reader of anything.
Its one saving grace are the stories interspersed to highlight the points Greene is making. Many of them are good, even the ones I already knew from paying attention in history class (or reading them in other history books). The problem is while about half of them are actually about war, the other half are about politicians, Hollywood moguls, and other people whom the author deems "strategic". His point (in the preface, and throughout the book) is that each of us fight war even though most of us aren't soldiers, we face in everyday life situations which we need to have a plan of attack or our enemies will destroy us.
The glaring thing is virtually none of the politicians he focuses on are conservative (he does talk about Eisenhower, but only as a general; and Margaret Thatcher), he spends an inordinate amount of time telling the reader how smart Roosevelt and Clinton were. I'm sorry I tend to notice things which are lop-sided politically. But he talks about Nazi tactics alongside allied tactics, Napoleonic tactics alongside Horatio Nelson where is the bipartisan spirit? Either talk about all the politicians or leave modern politics out of it.
The book would have been much better if it was all stories and only organized into the 33 strategies with a one sentence introduction to each strategy. But to be fair, it's a self help book, and I typically can't read self help books because of all the pithy pseudo-psych stuff in them (as described in the first paragraph). They are either unbearably vague or glaringly obvious and sometimes both. Also to be fair, I didn't finish the book. I got to about strategy 19 before I just gave up. Who knows, maybe he was saving the Reagan and Bush stories for the later strategies. I guess I'll never know."
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