The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power (Penguin) - a how-to guide on emulating history's most ruthless schemers - has become the undisputed hip-hop playbook. Kanye West, Jay-Z and others have adopted Law's strategies. Thanks to rabid fans, Laws, first published in 1998, has gone on to sell some 700,000 copies. Since West and Jay-Z started name-dropping the book, Greene has gone from nobody to hip-hop guru. Rappers are often startled when they first meet the L.A. author. "Reading his book, you expect him to be Hercules," says 50 Cent's manager Chris Lighty. But he's just this skinny white guy."

1. Crush your enemy totally
Lifted from Niccolo Machiavelli, sixteenth-century author of The Prince: "Men must either be caressed or else annihilated...the injury...that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance."

2.Say less than is necessary
Lifted from Han-fei-tzu, Chinese philosopher, third century B.C.: "Never start moving your own lips and teeth before the subordinates do..."

3. Never outshine the master
Lifted from Baltasar Gracian, seventeenth-century Spanish philosopher: "All superiority is odious, but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal."

4. Assume formlessness
Lifted from Sun-tzu, Chinese general, fourth century B.C.: "The ability to gain victory by changing and adapting according to the opponent is called genius."

5. Create a cult following
Lifted from Grete de Francesco, twentieth-century Swiss Journalist: "The charlatan achieves his great power by simply opening a possibility for men to believe what they want to believe."