Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.Įveryone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). It pointedly reminds readers of the crippling burden of “shame and fear” that even-and perhaps especially-the most golden heroes must bear in societies that cannot tolerate difference. Sherr’s book is important not simply because it memorializes an American icon.

Though married during her years at NASA, Ride’s true sexual orientation did not become public until her death, when her obituary mentioned that she had been survived by a female partner of nearly three decades. However, the former astronaut was never entirely comfortable with her celebrity status and kept parts of her life hidden, including the fact that she was a lesbian. Eager to use her notoriety to help young people, and especially girls, take an interest in math and science, she co-founded Sally Ride Science in 2001. During the nine years she was associated with the space program, Ride’s exemplary conduct “transformed female astronauts from a punch line into a matter of national pride.” She returned to academia afterward and became a professor. Her ability to lead but also “take orders like a trooper,” along with her wit and charm, endeared her to America and the world. As the first woman to actually go on a mission, Ride came under especially intense scrutiny from the media. They not only represented themselves as individuals, but their entire gender. But for the women, who were the first in NASA history to be selected for space flight, the challenge was even greater. The group represented the very best minds America had to offer.

Three years earlier, NASA had chosen Ride to join a group of five other women and 29 men to participate in the new space shuttle program. An award-winning journalist’s revealing biography of Sally Ride (1951-2012), the first American woman in space.įormer ABC News correspondent Sherr ( Swim: Why We Love the Water, 2012, etc.) first met Ride, a young Stanford-trained physicist, in 1981.

Swim by Lynn Sherr