Introduction. Flattery is praise with a purpose. It doesn't necessarily have to be false, and it's not all bad. In fact, life would be pretty bland without it.

Chapter 1. Everyone Has a Hierarchy. Chimpanzees groom each other in a hierarchical way all day long. Flattery is in our genes.

Chapter 2. You Can Take It with You. Why the pyramids are the supreme form of physical flattery in human history.

Chapter 3. Flatter Me or Else. That cranky Yahweh was desperate to be flattered and then he punished the Jews when they refused to do it.

Chapter 4. Flattery is Undemocratic. The Greeks invented the idea of political flattery -- which was the flattering of the people -- and called it demagoguery. And it hasn't gone away.

Chapter 5. The Invention of Romantic Flattery. The Troubadour poets of the Middle Ages invented what we think of a romantic love -- and where would romantic love be without a few sweet nothings?

Chapter 6. The Courtier's Guide to How to Flatter. Renaissance courts were places of Machiavellian intrigue and flattering the king was a smart way to keep one's place.

Chapter 7. American Transparency. The Puritan instinct was to reject flattery as an Old World embellishment. But Americans figured out how to strip away the fanciness of flattery and use it as a tool.

Chapter 8. How Flattery Won Friends and Influenced People Dale Carnegie's message can be boiled down to the idea that to get people to like you, you must seem to like them. How do you do that? Flatter them, of course.

Chapter 9. The Science of Ingratiation. Sociologists have studied flattery for fifty years; they just call it ingratiation. They discovered that flattery flows better downward than upward -- so be careful when you flatter your boss.

Chapter 10. The Capitals of Modern Flattery. Hollywood and Washington are the twin epi-centers of the celebrity culture, where we unthinkingly flatter the famous, and thereby define praise downward.

Epilogue. How to Flatter Without Getting Caught Once you learn to fake sincerity, there's nothing to hold you back. Plus, know how far to go too far.