Some play with power and lose it all by a fatal mistake. Some go too far or not far enough. And yet others make all the right moves and are able to draw power unto themselves with an almost superhuman dexterity.

Throughout the ages, writers and philosophers have asked themselves: What are the lessons to be learned from the successes and failures of our predecessors?

Although the various writings on power span a period of more than three thousand years, common threads and themes are repeated, ones that hint at an essence of power and suggest properties that regulate its increase and decreased.

The 48 laws are timeless and definitive.