Antony Jay is known through programmes like "Yes Minister" for his perceptive and amusing analysis of organizations and the behaviour of people who work in them. In this book, he aims to show what today's manager can learn from history and literature, from the ancient Greeks to Machiavelli. With the application of Machiavellian precepts to modern corporations like IBM, General Motors and Shell Oil, he discovers that underneath the corporate images lurk self-contained states, complete with courtiers and diplomats, orthodoxy and heresy, wars and peace treaties. Jay uses satire, wit and Machiavellian method to produce theories of successful management.