I liked this book; not fabulous, but I did like it. I have many of the books on war (Machiavelli's [book: The Prince], [book: Moltke on the Art of War], [author: Sun Tzu]'s classic, Alexander the Great's version, some from Napoleon, some Civil War writings, etc.) and this is a conglomeration of many of those I'm familiar with.

Having said that, the style gets tiresome after a while. Many of the best parts are the sidebars where the author quotes directly from some of the best in war theory and war stories. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to read it all at once but perhaps a chapter a week. As it was, it took me many months to get through.

Things I learned: Many of the things I learned were better found in Machiavelli, Alexander and Napoleon. Echos of things I already knew. Still, it is nice to have all of this in one volume. I suppose I could have done without the ever-present quotes from "I Ching" and such. ( )

Contents

Preface
Part I Self-directed warfare
1 Declare war on your enemies: The polarity strategy
2 Do not fight the last war: The guerrilla war of the mind strategy
3 Amidst the turmil of events, do not lose your presence of mind: The counterbalance strategy
4 Create a sense of urgency and desperation: The death-ground strategy
Part II Organizational (tam_ warfare
5 Avoid the snares of groupthink: The command-and-control strategy
6 Segment your forces: The controlled-chaos strategy
7 Transform your war into a crusade: Morale strategies
Part III Defensive warfare
8 Pick your battles carefully: The perfect economy strategy
9 Turn the tables: The counterattack strategy
10 Create a threatening presence: Deterrence strategies
11 Trade space for time: The nonengagement strategy
Part IV Offensive warfare
12 Lose battles but win the war: Grand strategy
13 Know your enemy: The intelligence strategy
14 Overwhelm resistance with speed and suddenness: The blitzkrieg strategy
15 Control the dynamic: Forcing strategies
16 Hit them where it hurts: The center-of-gravity strategy
17 Defeat them in detail: The divide-and-conquer strategy
18 Expose and attack your opponent's soft flank: The turning strategy
19 Envelop the enemy: The annihilation strategy
20 Maneuver them into weakness: The ripening for the sickle strategy
21 Negotiate while advancing: The diplomatic war strategy
22 Know how to end things: The exit strategy
Part V Unconventional (dirty) warfare
23 Weave a seamless blend of fact and fiction: Misperception strategies
24 Take the line of least expectation: The ordinary-extraordinary strategy
25 Occupy the moral high-ground: The righteous strategy
26 Deny them targets: The strategy of the void
27 Seem to work for the interests of others while furthering your own: The alliance strategy
28 Give your rivals enough rope to hang themselves: The one-upmanship strategy
29 Take small bites: The fait accompli strategy
30 Penetrate their minds: Communication strategies
31 Destroy from within: The inner-front strategy
32 Dominate while seeming to submit: The passive aggression strategy
33 Sow uncertainty and panic through acts of terror: The chain-reaction strategy
Selected bibliography
Index

Psychopathy 101. Self help book for managers, as vapid as any other self help book. Better researched than most but that does not translate into value. ( )

I love Robert Greene’s books usually but this one was just OK. Too many strategies; too many leaders, too many wars. ( )

Could have added another strategy to team warfare based on the battles of Xiang Yu vs Liu Bang. ( )

Could have added another strategy to team warfare based on the battles of Xiang Yu vs Liu Bang. ( )

This is a facinating book on relating war to real life. Every chapter relates to my life in some way. ( )

(Alistair) As an amoral, power-hungry schemer, I greatly enjoyed Robert Greene's first book, The 48 Laws of Power, both as a codification of many of the principles of power-use, deceit and manipulation, and an interesting and thoroughly enjoyable read filled with historical example and anecdote to illustrate them. (In fact, I think I'll read that one again one day soon.) Delightfully Machiavellian.

I am pleased to report that in The 33 Strategies of War, Greene has done it again, moving from the tactical to the strategic scale; Sun-tzu more than Machiavelli, although these strategies apply equally to conflicts other than war - business, politics, and negotiation - and again beautifully illustrated with historical examples. Well worth reading - although, of course, if one isn't suited to this sort of thing, one probably shouldn't expect to become a powermonger overnight.

(While it's not a topic I hold much fascination for, perhaps I should read his The Art of Seduction, too, just to complete the entire Amoral Series? Probably.)
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/cerebrate/2008/03/the-33-strategies-of-war-ro... ) ( )

Another set of pithy laws and quotations, like those in the "The (48?) Secrets of Power". Don't just read this as a "How-To", read it to see other sides of people who were famous, such as Joan Crawford. While I'm not about to use these principles myself, I won't fall for them now either.
Oh, and as a teaser: after reading this book, there is a certain famous Artist that you will never be able to think of with anything but a feeling of being soiled for even being in the same room with his works. ( )