The 48 Laws of Power - wikipedia The 48 Laws of Power This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. ( January 2014 ) The 48 Laws of Power Author Robert Greene Country United States Subject Self - help Published 1998 ( Viking Press ) ( HC ) ; 2007 ( HighBridge Audio ) CD Pages 452 ISBN 0 - 670 - 88146 - 5 ( HC ) ; 978 - 1 - 59887 - 092 - 3 ( CD ) OCLC 39733201 Dewey Decimal 303.3 21 LC Class BD438. G74 1998 Followed by The Art of Seduction The 48 Laws of Power ( 1998 ) is the first book by American author Robert Greene. The book is a bestseller, selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States, and is popular with prison inmates and celebrities. Contents 1 Background 2 Reception 3 References 4 External links Background 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. In 1995, Greene worked as a writer at Fabrica, an art and media school, and met a book packager named Joost Elffers. Greene pitched a book about power to Elffers and six months later, Elffers requested that Greene write a treatment. Although Greene was unhappy in his current job, he was comfortable and saw the time needed to write a proper book proposal as too risky. 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 the Great Roman Civil War. Greene wrote the treatment, which later became The 48 Laws of Power. He would note this as the turning point of his life. Reception The 48 Laws of Power has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States and has been translated into 24 languages. Fast Company called the book a `` mega cult classic, '' and The Los Angeles Times noted that The 48 Laws of Power turned Greene into a `` cult hero with the hip - hop set, Hollywood elite and prison inmates alike. '' The 48 Laws of Power has been reported to be much requested in American prison libraries, and has been studied as a first year text in some US colleges. Former drug dealer Curtis Jackson ( now better known as rapper 50 Cent ) stated that he related to the book `` immediately, '' and approached Greene with the prospect of a potential collaboration, which would later become The 50th Law, another New York Times bestseller. Busta Rhymes used The 48 Laws of Power to deal with problematic movie producers. DJ Premier has a tattoo inspired from Law # 5, `` Reputation is the cornerstone of power '', on his arm and DJ Calvin Harris has an `` Enter with boldness '' arm tattoo based on Law # 28. The 48 Laws of Power has also been mentioned in songs by UGK, Jay Z, Kanye West, and Drake. Dov Charney, founder and former CEO of American Apparel, frequently quoted the laws during board meetings, has given friends and employees copies of the book, and appointed Greene to the board of American Apparel. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is also claimed by the book 's author to have read the book. Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer said that Greene 's so - called laws are based on isolated examples, and not on solid research. Kirkus Reviews said Greene offers no evidence to support his world view, Greene 's laws contradict each other, and the book is `` simply nonsense ''. Newsweek also points out ways the laws contradict each other and says `` Intending the opposite, Greene has actually produced one of the best arguments since the New Testament for humility and obscurity. '' Director magazine notes `` some of Greene 's ' laws ' seem contradictory '' and the work is `` plodding and didactic ''. There has been no empirical research that any of the laws actually achieve positive social results. References Jump up ^ Greene, Robert ( 2000 ). The 48 Laws of Power. New York, NY. p. 452. ISBN 0140280197. Jump up ^ `` Business Bestsellers ''. New York Times. November 8, 1998. Jump up ^ Green, Hardy. `` Best Selling List ''. BusinessWeek. ^ Jump up to : Chang, Andrea. American Apparel 's in - house guru shows a lighter side. LA Times. August 30, 2011. ^ Jump up to : Blake, John. How to Master the ' 48 Laws of Power '. CNN. March 15, 2010. ^ Jump up to : Lee, Chris ( July 12, 2006 ). `` Laws for an Outlaw Culture ''. LA Times. Jump up ^ Tice, Carol. All 's Fair ?. Entrepreneur. November 1, 2006. ^ Jump up to : Paumgarten, Nick. Fresh Prince. NewYorker. November 6, 2006. Jump up ^ Bosh, Chris. Chris Bosh NBA Blog. NBA.com. April 10, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Perlroth, Nicole. Robert Greene on Power Ambition Glory. Forbes. June 16, 2009. Jump up ^ Johnson, Lynn. The 50 Cent Bible. Fast Company. September 10, 2009. Jump up ^ Garner, Dwight. The Readers Behind Bars Put Books to Many Uses. The New York Times. October 19, 2010. Jump up ^ `` 48 Laws of Power Syllabus '' ( PDF ). Millsaps College. Jump up ^ `` The 48 Laws of Power Syllabus '' ( PDF ). Ramapo College. Jump up ^ Burkeman, Oliver ( September 4, 2009 ). `` When the gangsta rapper met the self - help guru ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ Harris, Randy. `` calvin says : enter with boldness ''. FMLY. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Kanye West -- Primetime Lyrics ''. RapGenius. Jump up ^ `` UGK -- Living This Life ''. Jump up ^ `` Drake -- What I 'm Thinkin ' Right Now Lyrics ''. RapGenius. Jump up ^ `` THE 48 LAWS OF POWER ''. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 12 Jan 2014. Jump up ^ Adler, Jerry ( 1998 ), The Prince Wants a Word With You, Newsweek, retrieved 12 Jan 2014 Jump up ^ Kennedy, Carol ( 1999 ), The 48 Laws of Power By Robert Greene, Director Publications, retrieved 12 Jan 2014 External links Power, Seduction and War : The Robert Greene Blog Books by Robert Greene The 48 Laws of Power ( 1998 ) The Art of Seduction ( 2001 ) The 33 Strategies of War ( 2006 ) The 50th Law ( 2009 ) Mastery ( 2012 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_48_Laws_of_Power&oldid=801033293 '' Categories : 1998 books Books by Robert Greene ( American author ) Self - help books Business books Viking Press books Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from May 2016 Articles with a promotional tone from January 2014 All articles with a promotional tone Pages to import images to Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Čeština Deutsch Eesti Español עברית Македонски Polski Română Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 17 September 2017, at 07 : 48. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when was the 48 laws of power written
Answer: 1998