If you’re looking for the best dark triad books, you’ve come to the right page.
The dark triad includes Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. They are foundational constructs for The Power Moves, and we studied them to tease out the most effective strategies to help men succeed, while also staying honorable.
Here are the current best resources on the dark triad.
Note: Unlike most lists, we only review books our founder and power dynamics expert Lucio Buffalmano has personally studied. His research empowers good men to understand and navigate the darker side of human nature.
Contents
9. Confessions of A Sociopath
How do dark-triad folks think and act?
Well, there is no better way than to let an actual sociopath share that.
The author, a diagnosed sociopath, discusses how life looks like to a sociopath.
The results might shock someone.
M.E. Thomas openly discusses how she relishes ruining people.
That’s common among psychopaths and sociopaths, since hurting others gives them a sense of power.
The author, a woman, discusses using fake allegations of gender discrimination for career advancement and instigating her classmates to file a made-up sexual harassment charge against her school teacher.
Don’t get me wrong, many people enjoy seeing others lose. That’s what frenemies are all about, after all.
And some even see the positives in other people’s suffering. I remember an ex-girlfriend of mine being sad that her ex-boyfriend had a new beau.
Why?
Because he wouldn’t pine over her anymore.
But sociopaths do take it one step further when it comes to relishing in other people’s misfortune.
That’s what Thomas makes clear here. And that’s why you only want to selectively borrow from psychopaths and sociopaths.
A similar book is “The Psychopath Inside“, but Fallon writes as a neuroscientist, with more scientific details that might bore some readers.
8. The Art of The Deal
Machiavellianism starts before you even open the book, at the “author” page level.
Schwartz indeed said that Donald Trump didn’t write a single word of the book, and Trump, of course, replied that he wrote most of it.
To get to the real dark triad goodies in “The Art of the Deal,” you have to be able to read through the lines, as the book was obviously going to be rather kind towards Trump.
Take for, example, when Trump wanted to help homeless people in New York by giving them shelter in an old building he had bought.
Unfortunately, the City of New York prohibited him from carrying out this generous act of kindness.
What gives?
That all sounded strange to me. So I researched it. And, it turns out, Trump wanted to let homeless people in to force the last holdout owners to sell low.
LOL, if that weren’t so low, one couldn’t stop laughing at Trump’s Machiavellianism.
Also read:
- Psychopaths at the top – empaths stop at the middle
- Bad Blood: how Elizabeth Holmes gained a 10-billion evaluation without any technology
- The Fund, on how some potentially dark-triad founders operate (including the virtuous spins)
7. Machiavelli’s Principles: Life & Work
A ruthlessly cynical wake-up call for too nice guys, this Machiavellian take on Ray Dalio’s virtuous ‘Principles‘ will change the way you look at life.
It’s a brief take that Lucio Buffalmano first wrote on a whim, but ended up being a hit among our readers. Many found it enlightening on the thinking patterns of dark triad personalities, especially for Machiavellianism.
It’s a free article, give it a read and it may change the way you look at some authors’ biographies.
6. The Dictator’s Handbook
There you have it:
A playbook for narcissists and sociopaths to acquire president-level power and wealth.
This is the modern “The Prince“, and no descriptions are needed, but two quotes:
Quote: Rule 3: Control the flow of money.
(…)
Bravo to Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari, estimated to be worth up to $4 billion even as he governs a country near the world’s bottom in per capita income.
And even worse:
Quote: Rule 5: Don’t take money out of your supporters’ pockets to make people’s lives better.
(…)
Bravo to Senior General Than Shwe of Myanmar, who made sure following the 2008 Nargis cyclone that food relief was controlled and sold on the black market by his military supporters rather than letting aid go to the people—at least 138,000 and maybe as many as 500,000 of whom died in the disaster
This is exactly what I refer to when I often say that good people need to know how to be bad.
Otherwise, it’s only the “through and through pieces of sh*t” who get to power and hold power.
Also read:
- Politician’s manipulations: techniques and examples
5. Who Is Michael Ovitz
This is our top pick for dark triad traits in the service of business success.
Ovitz’s Machiavellian approach to business built the most powerful Hollywood agency in the world.
And made him an influential multimillionaire in the process.
On business structure, he says:
The lack of hierarchy was a myth, of course, a management tool. We were democratic dictators.
And about his ‘hidden power’ and reputation, he says:
Mystique is ten times better than publicity; it’s much better to be thought of as the great and powerful Oz than to be revealed as merely another schemer behind a curtain.
And about his approach to business:
My clients played characters on-screen; I played them offscreen.
I was a chameleon, becoming whomever I needed to be to make everyone comfortable and close the deal.
A must-read and a tough wake-up call for anyone who has grown up on naive self-help and naive business books.
⚠️ Buyer beware!
Ovitz had a life crisis and a tremendous fallout with his lifetime best friends and business partners, going from best pals, to worst enemies.
Read our review in full to avoid the same mistakes -we teach the ‘best of both worlds’ approach in Power University- 🔜
4. Casanova’s Memoirs
Why are Casanova’s memoirs even here?
Well, to begin with, because most people are interested in dark triad personalities to seduce and get laid more (no shame there).
Second, because I seek to provide an informational edge and few people are even aware of this book.
And third, because Casanova did slay thanks to dark triad traits.
Most of all, I believe, in narcissism, with power-aware narcissists being some of the most prolific types of seducers:
10 Types of Male Seducers: Pick Your Niche!
Casanova was a rake in an era when hookups weren’t nearly as easy while traveling and often not knowing the language and customs (sigma male-style), and while overcoming a litany of roadblocks, from cockblocking parents to protective nuns while he tried to seduce women in convent.
When it comes to dark triad traits, I don’t think Casanova was a psychopath.
What’s peculiar about his womanizer style indeed is that he often fell in love with women as hard as they did -except he moved on anyway-.
But he did have plenty of antisocial (APD) and dark triad traits, including narcissism, a strong will to power, reckless and impulsive behavior, and endless Machiavellian plots to meet and get together with women.
In many ways, he also used many modern seduction techniques, including:
- Lavish money spending (conspicuous consumption)
- Entering elite circles and earning social status (social circle game)
- Staying in shape and attention to appearances (self-care)
- Wearing the most elaborate clothes (peacocking)
- Hustling to hire servants and stay at the best locations (lifestyle game)
And he leveraged his position of power for plenty of easy lays, too.
Bravo to Casanova, a true example of leveraging dark triad traits without (willingly) hurting anyone and in support of a life worth living.
3. The Good Psychopath’s Guide
Some psychopathic traits can be used to enhance your odds of success in life.
That, you knew, I think. Or you suspected, at least. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up on this list of best dark triad books.
So after “The Wisdom of Psychopaths“, Dutton moved to a “how-to book” on how to be more of a psychopath.
However, before you jump on that train: too much psychopathy becomes harmful and is not conducive to life success.
And violence, poor impulse control, and poor planning are a recipe for ending up in prison.
So, which traits should you borrow from psychopaths?
That’s what Kevin Dutton does: he lists what traits you should borrow from psychopaths, and how you can go about developing them within yourself.
Also read:
- Why psychopaths get laid more (and why they fail more, too)
- The psychopath’s modus operandi to control women
2. The New Science of Narcissism
By Keith Campbell
Summary
Dr. Campbell is one of the leading researchers in Narcissism, making this book a bridge between dry academia and captivating non-fiction.
If you want to go with more empirical work, go for The Handbook of Trait Narcissism. But for most readers, The New Science of Narcissism is a fantastic primer.
Crucially, Campbell also includes the advantages of narcissism, making it a standout among most books that focus on victims of narcissism.
1. The Dark Triad of Personality
As a website that values empirical evidence, we had to have this book.
It’s not the only book written by a psychologist or scientist on this list. But it’s one of the very few available scientific textbooks on the dark triad (and until 2026, it was the only).
So expect a “less entertaining read” on this one :).
But if you want what the research literature shows us about the dark triad, this is your book.
Bonus to Learn the Skills: Power University
By Lucio Buffalmano
Overview | Reviews
Technically, this is a course rather than a book.
But if your goal is not just to understand dark triad psychology, but to apply the research-backed insights ethically and effectively, Power University is our most structured resource.
Unlike single-author books that focus on one trait (psychopathy, narcissism, or Machiavellianism), the course integrates findings from personality psychology, social strategy research, status dynamics, and behavioral science into a coherent framework.
The goal is not to turn you into a dark triad personality.
It is to help you:
- Recognize dark-triad strategies in others
- Borrow the effective traits
- Avoid the self-sabotaging traits
Because the format includes video examples, case breakdowns, quizzes, and applied exercises, many readers find it easier to internalize than standalone books.
The guiding philosophy is simple:
Learn the full playbook. Use it ethically. Win without becoming destructive.
Change Log: New Entries & Exits
We continuously update our foundational lists of best books to provide our readers with the latest and best resources.
Here’s what we added and removed, and why:
Added
- Who is Michael Ovitz (23.02.2024) as one of the best accounts on how some potentially dark triad traits can lead to business success
- Machiavelli’s Principles (2025), because of our positive readers’ feedback: a much-needed counterweight to naive self-help
Removed
- Psychopath Free (03.03.2025), a great book for understanding how potentially sadistic ‘predatories of love’ win over affection and discard, but it focuses on a single, second-hand case. We favored books with more empirical evidence and broader applicability
- The 48 Laws of Power (03.03.2025), a valid primer on power and manipulation dynamics, but many laws are too low-power to properly reflect dark triad psychology
- The Art of Seduction (03.03.2025), a great book, but its seducer types do not represent how most dark triads actually operate. Especially not in the modern world
- Trust Me, I’m Lying (03.03.2025) perfect valid book on Machiavellian strategies, only removed to keep the list streamlined and balanced across all three dark-triad subtypes
