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Hone your strategic mind...Straight Up Truth Reviews - It Is What It Is

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The 33 Strategies of War (Joost Elffers Books) Paperback – December 14, 2007

by Robert Greene (Author)

4,855 ratings

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Brilliant distillations of the strategies of war—and the subtle social game of everyday life—by the bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power and The Laws of Human Nature. This is the only authorized paperback edition in the US.

Robert Greene’s groundbreaking guides, The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, and Mastery, espouse profound, timeless lessons from the events of history to help readers vanquish an enemy, ensnare an unsuspecting victim, or become the greatest in your field. In The 33 Strategies of War, Greene has crafted an important addition to this ruthless and unique series.

Spanning world civilizations, synthesizing dozens of political, philosophical, and religious texts and thousands of years of violent conflict, The 33 Strategies of War is the I-Ching of conflict, the contemporary companion to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

Abundantly illustrated with examples from history, including the folly and genius of everyone from Napoleon to Margaret Thatcher, Shaka the Zulu to Lord Nelson, Hannibal to Ulysses S. Grant, as well as movie moguls, Samurai swordsmen, and diplomats, each of the thirty-three chapters outlines a strategy that will help you win life’s wars. Learn the offensive strategies that require you to maintain the initiative and negotiate from a position of strength, or the defensive strategies designed to help you respond to dangerous situations and avoid unwinnable wars. The great warriors of battlefields and drawing rooms alike demonstrate prudence, agility, balance, and calm, and a keen understanding that the rational, resourceful, and intuitive always defeat the panicked, the uncreative, and the stupid. An indispensable book, The 33 Strategies of War provides all the psychological ammunition you need to overcome patterns of failure and forever gain the upper hand.

From the Publisher

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene

From the author of The 48 Laws of Power. Brilliant distillations of the strategies of war

	Mastery	The 48 Laws of Power	The Art of Seduction	The Laws of Human Nature	The Daily Laws: 366 Meditations on Power, Seduction, Mastery, Strategy, and H...	The 48 Laws of Power (Special Power Edition)

Customer Reviews	10,650	84,211	11,211	16,446	4,597	84,211
Price	$13.00	$14.55	$23.71	$17.36	$12.79	$46.23
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Editorial Reviews

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Praise for Robert Greene

“Compelling.”—Forbes

“Greene’s specialty is analyzing the lives and philosophies of historical figures like Sun Tzu and Napoleon, and extracting from them tips on how to manipulate people and situations—a cutthroat worldview that has earned him a devoted following among a like-minded readership of rappers, drug dealers and corporate executives.”—The New York Times

"Illuminating.”—The Guardian

“Machiavelli has a new rival. And Sun Tzu had better watch his back. Greene . . . has put together a checklist of ambitious behavior. Just reading the table of contents is enough to stir a little corner-office lust.”—New York magazine

“Beguiling . . . literate . . . fascinating. A wry primer for people who desperately want to be on top.”—People magazine

“An heir to Machiavelli’s Prince . . . gentler souls will find this book frightening, those whose moral compass is oriented solely to power will have a perfect vade mecum.”—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Robert Greene, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction, Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws, is an internationally renowned expert on power strategies. He lives in Los Angeles.

Joost Elffers is the packaging genius behind Viking Studio's Secret Language series, Play with Your Food, and How Are You Peeling?. He lives in New York City.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 14, 2007
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143112783
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143112785
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.43 x 1.09 x 9.07 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #162 in Motivational Self-Help (Books)
- #167 in Success Self-Help

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4,855 ratings

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Robert Greene

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Robert Greene is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, and The 50th Law. His highly anticipated fifth book, Mastery, examines the lives of great historical figures such as Charles Darwin, Mozart, Paul Graham and Henry Ford and distills the traits and universal ingredients that made them masters. In addition to having a strong following within the business world and a deep following in Washington, DC, Greene’s books are hailed by everyone from war historians to the biggest musicians in the industry (including Jay-Z and 50 Cent).

Greene attended U.C. Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he received a degree in classical studies. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

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Customers find the book insightful, with one noting it provides an excellent overview for strategic thinkers. Moreover, the writing is well-structured and accessible, making it an entertaining read that customers enjoy immensely. Additionally, they appreciate the author's style and consider it a worthwhile investment. However, the book's length receives mixed reactions, with several customers finding it long.

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Insight Readability Writing quality Entertainment value Value for money Author Story quality Length

203 customers mention "Insight"192 positive11 negative

Customers find the book insightful, providing excellent summaries of the main strategies, with one customer noting it serves as an excellent overview for strategic thinkers.

"This superlative book begins with a Table of Contents section that includes the chapter title and a portion of the chapter overview...." Read more

"This book will teach you Godlike Strategies of the Art of Warfare." Read more

"...It is also applicable to almost all facets of life, not just WAR. I actively applied this to my leadership skills in League of Legends." Read more

"...deep and the information highly valuable as this book offers different perspectives than one might find in any history book in the educational system..." Read more

194 customers mention "Readability"190 positive4 negative

Customers find the book readable and enjoyable, with one noting that every page is worth studying.

"Phenomenal book. Robert Greene is a magician of stating laws and finding historical evidence to back up each law he has stated...." Read more

"...The above few issues notwithstanding, the book is outstanding. At 933 pages long, it is well-written and documented...." Read more

"They read the book and finished it. They said it was a good book to learn from." Read more

"...You can also read chapters from in between as most of the text makes sense even when read in isolation from other chapters. -..." Read more

67 customers mention "Writing quality"63 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, finding it well thought out and easy to read, with one customer noting that the author's style is both erudite and accessible.

"...At 933 pages long, it is well-written and documented. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in strategy!..." Read more

"I found Robert Greene’s writing incredibly deep and the information highly valuable as this book offers different perspectives than one might find..." Read more

"...The layout of the book is also noteworthy, with clear headings and summaries that make it easy to digest the information...." Read more

"...So this book... with it's slicing wit and seductive charm made its way back into my life one day...." Read more

30 customers mention "Entertainment value"30 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very entertaining and interesting to read, with one customer noting that the stories keep them engaged as they turn the pages.

"...All in all, you will find the stories interesting to keep turning the pages and wanting yourself to complete the end of a chapter in every..." Read more

"...reader, with no particular needs or demands, may still find this an interesting, perhaps helpful book (I don't mean to disparage this audience) but..." Read more

"...Anyway, it's a solid read. Entertaining, while being potentially useful in real life...." Read more

"...You really can't go wrong with this book. It is very entertaining and educational...." Read more

12 customers mention "Value for money"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth its price and consider it one of their best investments.

"...For me the historical examples alone are worth the price of the book, which I acquired in audio version and whose narration is sure to keep you..." Read more

"...The book is actually very interesting and worth it just for all the historical anecdotes (provided you like history) from both Eastern and Western..." Read more

"Well, it's been good for keeping my employees in line, motivated and selling. I'm in the illustrious career of Retail Management (Oooh! Aaah!)..." Read more

"...story in chapter 4 on developing a sense of extreme urgency was well worth the cost of the book to me...." Read more

10 customers mention "Author"10 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's writing style, with one noting how well the literary references are placed.

"Robert Greenes Books Are So Outstanding He's an Excellent Writer, I Enjoyed All His Books" Read more

"...The author expresses themselves very well throughout this literature...." Read more

"...doing so, we're presented with a wealth of military history, fascinating biographies of some of humanity's greatest leaders, and an expertly-written..." Read more

"Fast shipping. Great book. Author is renowned and I look fwd to reading it ASAP." Read more

9 customers mention "Story quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the stories in the book, with one mentioning it as a must-read series of historical anecdotes.

"Great examples and stories, but as always Greene has a rather Machiavellian view of life which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy--if we view life..." Read more

"...Full of useful anecdotes about life and how to approach it, and formatted in a way that makes you WANT to keep reading...." Read more

"Excellent overview for strategic thinkers. This book is full of many interesting anecdotes and solid analysis by Greene...." Read more

"...The book is filled with allegories, stories and novel excerpts making it easy to grasp and hard to put down. One of my personal favorite reads." Read more

13 customers mention "Length"6 positive7 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's length, with some finding it really long, while one customer notes it contains fairly long quoted texts.

"...War is a lengthy and thoroughly enjoyable read that is best consumed a chapter at a time. 5-star great read for the strategically oriented!" Read more

"...Certain chapters are fairly long and borderline slightly boring with too much details which can be avoided. The book itself is also quite heavy read." Read more

"...designed to help you respond to dangerous situations and avoid unwinnable wars." Read more

"This book is pretty awesome thus far. It's really long and has taken me a little extra time as I read during my lunch hour and break...." Read more

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Craig Belluche
Robert Greene never disappoints
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2025
Verified Purchase

Phenomenal book. Robert Greene is a magician of stating laws and finding historical evidence to back up each law he has stated. I can only imagine how much time and effort he has put into to give the world this plethora of strategies. To anyone looking to elevate in their endeavors or even protecting themselves from others, this is the book to read!

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William J. Bahr
A modern-day classic of war strategy
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2023
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This superlative book begins with a Table of Contents section that includes the chapter title and a portion of the chapter overview. This section provides a nice preview and, for later, an excellent refresher/reference. See the online “Look Inside” of the paperback version for this interesting and important overview.

The Preface includes six fundamental ideals for transforming oneself into a strategic warrior in daily life:
1. Look at things as they are, not as your emotions color them.
2. Judge people by their actions.
3. Depend upon your own arms (mind/intelligence).
4. Worship Athena (goddess of strategic warfare/intelligence), not Ares (god of war).
5. Elevate yourself above the battlefield (focus on long-term objectives).
6. Spiritualize your warfare (challenge and improve yourself).

General description of the book: There is one chapter for each of the 33 strategies, with no summary at the end. Each chapter is a collection of stories/examples of the discussed strategy in the way of extended quotes from other books, interspersed with shorter stories/quotes. Then comes an image in the form of a strategic thought with words filling a creative outline of the concept described. Then comes an “Authority” quote from a historic figure. Finally, there comes a “reversal” (counter or antidote to the strategy described). Surprisingly, there is no summary at the end of the book.

Many of the strategies (“plans to gain an objective/win”) are stratagems (“artifices or tricks in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy”). Some of the strategies are truly Machiavellian (amoral). However, the author neglects to emphasize that such strategies only work in the short term. The enemy learns. As well, your cohorts or allies also learn you are not to be trusted. A good bit of advice about character and virtue from Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

Should the author ever wish to revise his book, here are a couple of items I would recommend he address: P 220 Sun-Tzu “4th century BC.” However, Sun-Tzu is claimed to have lived in the 6th century to the 5th century BC (544-496 BC). Page 231 “Next time you launch a campaign, try an experiment: do not think about either your solid goals or your wishful dreams, and do not plan out your strategy on paper. … Dreaming first of what you want and then trying to find the means to reach it is a recipe for exhaustion, waste, and defeat.” OTOH, this flies in the face of recommendations from many experts: First, determine your goal, then brainstorm for solutions, then evaluate your alternatives. At the end, if your effort provides no good path to your goal, consider adjusting your goal. P 316 “The North Vietnamese, meanwhile, did everything they could to win the peasants over and earned for themselves an army of millions of silent sympathizers.” The North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong intimidated and murdered the peasants as well. P 550 “…had it [the US] continued its march all the way to Baghdad in 1991, it could have forced Saddam Hussein out of office as a condition of peace, preventing a future war and saving countless lives.” Though the book was written in 2006, this option was and still is highly debatable. Mistakes were made both to how the Iraq I war (aka Gulf War, 1990-1991) started and ended, allowing Saddam to kill the Kurds in northern Iraq. In Iraq II (2003-2011), the demand for Saddam to rid himself of Weapons of Mass destruction was essentially forcing him to prove a negative (philosophically impossible). The end of Iraq II shows the US made plenty of mistakes, all of which goes to suggest that strategizing about Iraq was fraught with peril. P 587 Hitler’s “beloved dog, Biondi.” Blondi. P 668 “Tip and run raids by small bands of Cossacks.” Hit and run. “Tip and run” refers to a phrase used in the Second World War to denote a hurried and often indiscriminate air raid when small number of German planes crossed the English Channel and tipped (unloaded) their bombs onto coastal English towns and quickly headed back across the Channel.

The above few issues notwithstanding, the book is outstanding. At 933 pages long, it is well-written and documented. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in strategy!

Of possible interest, a book on winning strategies used throughout history by 87 master strategists Strategic Advantage: How to Win in War, Business, and Life

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Amy Schmidt
Helps add wisdom for survivors of abuse.
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2025
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Very popular book for guys incarcerated. Would not advise giving this book to a narcissist.

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Mark Anthony Gumera
Godlike Strategies!
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2025
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This book will teach you Godlike Strategies of the Art of Warfare.

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Coronado
How to win at video games.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2025
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Offers insight into the human condition. Something that you cannot find anywhere else. It is also applicable to almost all facets of life, not just WAR. I actively applied this to my leadership skills in League of Legends.

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Jeffry Scott Pichlik
Extremely Valuable
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2024
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I found Robert Greene’s writing incredibly deep and the information highly valuable as this book offers different perspectives than one might find in any history book in the educational system. To read and understand the thoughts of some of the greatest leaders and Generals throughout history is inspiring, yet manipulative in respect many of the leaders appear to have only the desire to conquer for not much more than that of their personal ego. I guess some things never change. Overall… a great read for personal or business ideas and strategizing.

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Bartek
The 33 Strategies of War: A Must-Read for Strategic Thinkers!
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024
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"The 33 Strategies of War" by Robert Greene is an insightful exploration of historical military tactics and their application to everyday life and personal challenges. This book offers a unique perspective on strategy, blending lessons from famous military leaders with practical advice for navigating conflicts, both big and small.

Greene's writing is engaging and thought-provoking, making complex concepts accessible to readers from all backgrounds. Each strategy is backed by historical examples, providing a rich context that enhances understanding. From the "Self-Directed Warfare" strategy to the "Defensive Warfare" approach, Greene encourages readers to think critically about their own situations and how they can apply these lessons to achieve their goals.

What I particularly appreciate about this book is its emphasis on psychological insight. Greene delves into the human mind, examining how emotions, perceptions, and social dynamics can influence outcomes in conflict. This depth of analysis sets it apart from other books on strategy and self-help.

The layout of the book is also noteworthy, with clear headings and summaries that make it easy to digest the information. Each strategy is accompanied by actionable tips, making it a practical guide for anyone looking to improve their decision-making skills and approach challenges with a strategic mindset.

Whether you're a business professional facing competition, a student navigating social dynamics, or simply someone interested in the art of strategy, "The 33 Strategies of War" offers valuable insights that can be applied in various aspects of life. Highly recommend for anyone seeking to sharpen their strategic thinking and enhance their ability to overcome obstacles!

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Amazon カスタマー
Not more than a summary of scrambled stories
Reviewed in Japan on May 2, 2018
Verified Purchase

This book’s length, relative to its content is far too long. The author always follows the same approach: he tries to make a point by telling a long historical story and then adding a quote to proof his point. This does not feel very convincing to me (just scrambled quotes and stories). Furthermore, you tend to forget what he wanted to say. This book is not much more than a summary and does not contain much original content.

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Andre95
Another masterpiece
Reviewed in Brazil on November 5, 2019
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I couldn't imagine my life today without Robert's books.

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Alexander Yaroshewski
One of the best books of all times🚀
Reviewed in Mexico on August 6, 2024
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This book opened my eyes to the fact that many situations in my life, which seemed random, were actually well planned by others. It is a bible for anyone looking to improve the quality of their personal or professional life. The book provides clear methodologies to achieve goals when dealing with people, competitors, and family problems.

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mieke
Love Robert Green books
Reviewed in Australia on August 14, 2024
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So well referenced and thought through, R.G is really a brilliant human behavior & psychology analyst. Very thorough and interesting!

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11/10 ⭐️
10/10
Reviewed in Sweden on July 31, 2024
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10/10

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Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 stars Robert Greene never disappoints

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern-day classic of war strategy

5.0 out of 5 stars Helps add wisdom for survivors of abuse.

5.0 out of 5 stars Godlike Strategies!

5.0 out of 5 stars How to win at video games.

4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Valuable

5.0 out of 5 stars The 33 Strategies of War: A Must-Read for Strategic Thinkers!

Top reviews from other countries

2.0 out of 5 stars Not more than a summary of scrambled stories

5.0 out of 5 stars Another masterpiece

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books of all times🚀

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Robert Green books

5.0 out of 5 stars 10/10

Robert Greene never disappoints

A modern-day classic of war strategy

Helps add wisdom for survivors of abuse.

Godlike Strategies!

How to win at video games.

Extremely Valuable

The 33 Strategies of War: A Must-Read for Strategic Thinkers!

Not more than a summary of scrambled stories

Another masterpiece

One of the best books of all times🚀

Love Robert Green books

10/10