The Prince

1984 and BNW present two very important macroscopic anti-patterns, but they aren't so great at documenting the day-to-day banal tyranny that make the system what it is. The Prince, OTOH, was a real eye-opener.

To someone at the bottom of the corporate food chain, very little of its advice was directly applicable, but it really helped explain the behavior of the people above me. It turns out they're not nearly as irrational and narrow-sighted as I was often tempted to believe. They were just shamelessly putting their own needs first. I probably had a dozen "Ohhhhh... THAT's why X did Y despite the obvious pitfall Z!" moments scattered throughout my first reading.

I credit The Prince with singlehandedly doubling my ability to predict turbo-assholery and saving my skin at least once. Seeing a trap before it is sprung can really make all the difference. It should be mandatory reading for anybody who hasn't yet had ample opportunity to observe the dark patterns of office politics first hand.