The power of persuasion - Robert V. Levine

Can you be made to do something you don't want to do? The power of persuasion can turn ordinary people into suicide bombers or to take part in mass suicides, it is used to sell us time-shares and to get us on Big Brother. In business, if you can persuade, you can succeed; but how is it done? Robert Levine introduces us to the mindsets of those who prod, praise, debase and manipulate others to do things they never thought they'd do - and are sometimes later sorry they did! Levine takes a hands-on approach by going undercover in the world of manipulation, attending training sessions for magicians honing their craft and by taking jobs as a door-to-door salesman and a used-car salesman. And he finds the unlikely similarities across a wide range of persuasive strategies, from parents to con men to lovers to religious leaders.