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Cover of The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene

The Art of Seduction

  • 467 pages · about 8 hours
  • First published 2001
  • 19 editions

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1 About this book

The Art of Seduction is Robert Greene's 2001 study of seduction as a form of power. It profiles nine types of seducer, among them the Siren, the Rake, the Charmer and the Coquette, along with the anti-seducer and eighteen types of victim, and then sets out twenty-four techniques. Each is illustrated from the lives of historical figures such as Cleopatra, Casanova, Duke Ellington and John F. Kennedy, and from writers on love from Ovid to Freud. Greene wrote it as the follow-up to The 48 Laws of Power, treating seduction as a matter of power and manipulation as much as romance.

  • Courtship
  • History
  • Control (Psychology)
  • Persuasion (Psychology)
  • Seduction

2 What to expect

A long, amoral handbook that treats seduction as a form of power, in the manner of the author's The 48 Laws of Power. Portraits of nine seducer types and their targets come first, then twenty-four techniques, each illustrated with stories of historical figures from Cleopatra to Casanova. It is as much a study of persuasion and manipulation as a book about romance, and its many separate profiles make it easy to read in pieces.

Good for readers who want: the psychology of persuasion, history told through stories, and a book to read in pieces.

3 About Robert Greene

Born 1958

Robert Greene (born May 14, 1959) is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written seven international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law (with rapper 50 Cent), Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws. His eighth book, The Law of the Sublime, was published in November 2026.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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