Edwin Stern has spent twenty years negotiating things most people never hear about. He has sat across the table from executives, lawyers, and operators in cities on three continents — and learned that the best deals are rarely won by the loudest person in the room.

His clients range from the quietly wealthy to the ultra-rich. They don't talk about what happens in the room. Neither does he.

A lifelong student of human behavior, he collects two things: beautiful objects and stories about what people do when the stakes are high. He is most often found somewhere between New York and Europe — preferably on a terrace in Sicily with a cold glass of white wine.

The Negotiation Black Book is his first public statement.