What is "power"? In "Power: The Hidden Instinct," author David Bleviss reshapes the definition of this complex, yet often overused word. Bleviss asserts that the desire for power is instinctual and that anyone with will and desire can possess it.

Bleviss began developing his ideas about power from an early age. As a young adult, he traveled to Palestine in 1947 to participate in the formation of the new state of Israel. Moving from a society invested in socialist idealism to capitalism helped to form many of Bleviss's ideas about power and its uses.

In uncovering the meaning and uses of...