Gaining and Maintaining Power:

The Official Reading List

This reading list is a complete inventory of books that can be helpful in your quest
to gaining and maintaining power. It is not encouraged to read all of them, but
only those related to the field you desire to improve in. If you read all of them, you
will certainly have way more knowledge than necessary. To become a master of
power, do not forget that the most important thing is to apply what you learn in
the real world. Do not hesitate to point out useful books we forgot, so that we can
add them to the list.

Books not published yet are in italics.

Power and Manipulation

• The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
• Power!: How to Get It, How to Use It by Michael Korda
• The Prince by Machiavelli
• Games People Play: The Basic Handbook of Transactional Analysis by Eric
Berne
• The Craft of Power: A Philosophical and Strategic Guide to the Uses of Power
by R.G.H. Siu
• 36 Stratagems Plus by BS Douglas S. Tung
• The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin
D. Mitnick
• Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy
• The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics
by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
• The Power Tactics of Jesus Christ by Jay Haley
• The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao
• Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't by David Drummond
and Jeffrey Pfeffer
• The Stoic Machiavelli: Achieving Your Dreams With Pragmatic
Ruthlessness
• The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success by Kevin Dutton
• The Forbidden Keys to Persuasion by Blair Warren
• The Anatomy of Power by John Kenneth Galbraith
• What Would Machiavelli Do: The Ends Justify the Meanness by Stanley
Bing
Charisma and Social Skills
• How to Win Friend and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry
Patterson
• How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships by
Leil Lowndes
• The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of
Personal Magnetism by Olivia Fox Cabane
• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van
Edwards
• Win the Crowd: Unlock the Secrets of Influence, Charisma, and
Showmanship Book by Steve Cohen
• Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Hardcover by Keith Ferrazzi
• The Social Skills Guidebook: Manage Shyness, Improve Your Conversations,
and Make Friends, Without Giving Up Who You Are by Chris McLeod
• The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and
Winning People Over by Jack Schafer
• Charisma on Command by Charlie Houpert
• Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind by Matthew M.
Hurley
• The Psychology of Human Leadership: How To Develop Charisma and
Authority by Michael Paschen, Erich Dihsmaier
• Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma by Nick Morgan
• The Lost Art of the Great Speech by Richard Dowis

Persuasion
• Get Anyone to Do Anything: Never Feel Powerless Again-With Psychological
Secrets to Control and Influence Every Situation by David J. Lieberman
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter by Scott
Adams
• Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert B.
Cialdini
• Win Your Case: How to Present, Persuade, and Prevail-Every Place, Every
Time by Gerry Spence
• Reframing: Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the Transformation of
Meaning by Richard Bandler
• Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by
Richard B. Thaler
 • The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene
• Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert Cialdini
• Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally
Hogshead
• Sleight of Mouth by Robert Dilts
• The Ellipsis Manual: Analysis and Engineering of Human Behavior by
Chase Hughes
• Persuasion Skills Black Book: Practical NLP Language Patterns for Getting
The Response You Want by Rintu Basu
• The Ultimate Introduction to NLP: How To Build A Successful Life by
Richard Bandler
• The Art Of Manipulation: How to Get Anybody to Do What You Want by
Omar Johnson
• Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human
Behavior by Nick Kolenda
• The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most
Persuasive Psychological Manipulation Technique in the World by Ian
Rowland
• You Can Read Anyone by David J. Lieberman
• Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy
Kawasaki
• Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson
• Invisible Influence: The Power to Persuade Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere by
Kevin Hogan
• The Composite Persuasion by Joel Marsh
• The Power of Framing: Creating the Language of Leadership by Gail T.
Fairhurst
• Never Be Lied to Again: How To Get The Truth In 5 Minutes Or Less In Any
Conversation Or Situation by David J. Lieberman
• The Power of Indirect Influence by Judith C. Tingley
• Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion by Kurt
W. Mortensen, Robert G. Allen
• The Art of Manipulation: How to Get What You Want Out of People by R. B.
Sparkman

Psychology
• The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of
Evolutionary Psychology by Robert Wright
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology by David M. Buss
• The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson
 • The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan
Ariely
• The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology by Lee
Ross
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego by Sigmund Freud
• The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
• Naturally Selected: Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow, and Why It
Matters by Mark Van Vugt
• Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions by Gary A. Klein

Philosophy and Mindset

• The Nine Laws by Ivan Thorne
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Mastery by Robert Greene
• Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son by George Horace
Lorimer
• Letters to His Son by Lord Chesterfield
• The 16 Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill
• Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene
• Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
• Not Caring What Other People Think Is A Superpower by Ed Latimore
• The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
• Ikigai by Sebastian Marshall
• Panchatantra by Vishnu Sharma

Public Speaking, Rhetoric and Debating

• Rhetoric by Aristotle
• How to Argue and Win Every Time: At Home, at Work, in Court,
Everywhere, Every Day by Gerry Spence
• The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie
• The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
 • On Speaking Well: How to Give a Speech With Style, Substance, and Clarity
by Peggy Noonan
• The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win an Argument by Arthur
Schopenhauer
• Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by
Carmine Gallo
• Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith
• Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion by George J., PhD Thompson
• Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs
• How to Argue by Jonathan Herring
• How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic by Madsen Pirie

Biographies and History

• History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro
• Why Don’t We Learn From History by B.H. Liddell Hart
• Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
• Memoirs by Ulysses S Grant
• Memoirs by Williams T. Sherman
• Plutarch’s Lives by Plutarch
• The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects by
Giorgio Vasari
• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow
• Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American by B.H Liddell Hart
• Empire State of Mind: How Jay Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office
by Zack O’Malley Greenburg
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
• The Persian Expedition by Xenophon
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
• Shackleton's Way by Margot Morrell
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong
• The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro

Strategy and Warfare

• Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul
Alinsky
• Reveille for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
• The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
• How To Profit By One’s Enemies by Plutarch
 • Strategy by B.H. Liddell Hart
• Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram
• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
• The Strategy Paradox: Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And
What to do About It) by Michael Raynor
• Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson
• The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
• On War by Carl Von Clausewitz
• Billion Dollar Lessons: What You Can Learn from the Most Inexcusable
Business Failures of the Last 25 Years by Paul B. Carroll
• The Art Of War by Machiavelli
• A Spy's Guide To Strategy by John Braddock
• Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business by Chet
Richards
• Office Politics: How to Thrive in a World of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty
Tricks by Oliver James
• Arthashastra by Chanakya

Propaganda, Public Opinion and Media

• Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate by
George Lakoff
• Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Frank
Luntz
• Propaganda by Edward Bernays
• Crystallizing Public Opinion by Edward Bernays
• The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism by Upton Sinclair
• Spin: How to Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage by Michael
Sitrick
• Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday
• The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon
• Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion by Anthony
Pratkanis
• Crowds and Power by Elias Canetti
• The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements Book by
Eric Hoffer
• Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion by Magedah E. Shabo
• Spinfluence: The Hardcore Propaganda Manual for Controlling the Masses
by Nick McFarlane
• Guerrilla P.R. 2.0: Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign without Going
Broke by Michael Levine
• Shadow Men by Anthony Napoleon
 • Banned Mind Control Techniques Unleashed by Daniel Smith
• Propaganda: The Formation Of Men's Attitudes by Jacques Ellul
• The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John R. Zaller
• A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication by Richard Jackson
Harris
• Rumors and Rumor Control: A Manager's Guide to Understanding and
Combatting Rumors by Allan J. Kimmel
• On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, and What Can
Be Done by Cass R. Sunstein

Marketing
• How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab
• The Secret to Selling Anything by Harry Browne
• The One Sentence Persuasion Course: 27 Words to Make the World Do Your
Bidding by Blair Warren
• Impossible to Ignore: Creating Memorable Content to Influence Decisions by
Carmen Simon
• The Secret to Selling Anything by Harry Browne
• The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man by David W. Maurer
• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
• Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy
• Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
• Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko
• Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value by William Poundstone
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan
Heath
• Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with
Neuromarketing by Roger Dooley
• Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and
Persuade Us to Buy by Martin Lindstrom
• Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga turns followers into fanatics by Jackie
Huba

Personal Branding
• Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and
Fighting to Keep It by David D'Alessandro
• Primal Branding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company, and Your
Future by Patrick Hanlon
 • You Are The Message: Getting What You Want by Being Who You Are by
Roger Ailes
• People Will Talk: The Surprising Science of Reputation by John Whitfield

Maxims
• The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Pocket Oracle by Baltasar Gracian
• Maxims & Reflections by Francesco Guicciardini
• Maxims by La Rochefoucauld
• Chanakya Neeti by Chanakya

Negotiation
• The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by
Chris Voss

Body Language
• What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading
People by Joe Navarro
• The Definite Book of Body Language by Allan & Barbara Pease
• Our Masters' Voices: The Language and Body Language of Politics by J.
Maxwell Atkinson

This reading list is based on many others, including many of this subreddit's, as
well as the Ultimate Reading List of Power.

P.S: This list being 185 books long, at a rate of 1 book per week you will have read
them all in 3 years and a half, without taking into account that most of you will
have already read a few of them.

Source