science

The 33 Strategies of War

The 33 Strategies of War is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The 33 Strategies of War rather than just read about it. In short: The 33 Strategies of War is a personal development and self-help book. It was written by American author Robert Greene in 2006.

Key takeaways

The 33 Strategies of War belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The 33 Strategies of War to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The 33 Strategies of War from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The 33 Strategies of War is a personal development and self-help book. It was written by American author Robert Greene in 2006. It is composed of discussions and examples of offensive and defensive strategies from a wide variety of people and conditions, applying them to social conflicts such as family quarrels and business negotiations.

Reception The Independent said Greene has set himself up as a "highly successful author" of "tracts on how to get ahead", but that "it is never clear whether he really believes what he writes or whether it is just his shtick, an instrument of his will to shift £20 hardbacks" and concludes "There is something less than adult about it all." Admiral James G. Stavridis said the book had good breadth, but it lacked depth. Leadership theorist and author John Adair said Greene "shows a poor grasp of the subject" and the book is based on the flawed "assumption that the art of military strategy and the art of living are comparable". Booklist said the book was repetitive, lacked a sense of humor, and had an annoying "quasi-spiritual tone". NBA player Chris Bosh stated that his favorite book is The 33 Strategies of War. The book has been banned by several US prisons. In 2023, al-Qaeda's de facto emir Saif al-Adel self-published an interpretation of the book titled Free Reading of 33 Strategies of War. The book was described by one reviewer as having "far too many duff sentences", such: "Your goal is to blend philosophy and war, wisdom and battle, into an unbeatable blend." It has sold more than 200,000 copies.

See also The 48 Laws of Power On War The Art of War The Book of Five Rings Thirty-Six Stratagems

References

External links 33 Strategies of War Archived December 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine interview featuring Robert Greene

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The 33 Strategies of War

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The 33 Strategies of War claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The 33 Strategies of War before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The 33 Strategies of War ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The 33 Strategies of War

In research: The 33 Strategies of War appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The 33 Strategies of War in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The 33 Strategies of War is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2006 non-fiction books, Books by Robert Greene (American author), Personal development, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The 33 Strategies of War outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The 33 Strategies of War in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The 33 Strategies of War means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The 33 Strategies of War out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The 33 Strategies of War in simple terms?

The 33 Strategies of War is a personal development and self-help book. It was written by American author Robert Greene in 2006.

Why does The 33 Strategies of War matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The 33 Strategies of War?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The 33 Strategies of War.