How to Sweet Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories From a Master Negotiator

Former governor of New Mexico and US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson has engaged in high-stakes, face-to-face negotiations with Castro, Saddam, the Taliban, North Korea leaders, Slobodan Milosevic, and many other of the world's "crazy people" - and done it so well he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. Now he tells these stories - from Washington, DC to the Middle East to Pyongyang - in all their intense and sometimes absurd glory.

Readers also get a fine lesson in the art of negotiation: How to prepare, how to size up your opponent, understanding the nature of power in a standoff, how to give up only what is necessary while getting what you want, and many other strategies Richardson has mastered through at-the-table experience.