Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book for anyone interested in strategy
Review: I first read Sun Tzu "The Art of War" when I was 25 years old. What I found most useful about this book is the whole concept (Chinese/eastern) of "winning without fighting is best." This is how we were defeated in Vietnam, by Vietnamese communist forces who had been heavily influenced by Mao Tse Tung's ideas on communist guerilla warfare. And much of Mao's ideas on warfare was based upon Sun Tzu. Many westerners have trouble conceptualizing this "winning without fighting" mentality...its truly Chinese. To most Americans and Westerners...this is abstract thinking. But very intelligent thinking.In Vietnam, America militarily dominated yet lost the war because of divisive and conflicting attitudes on the homefront. America won most physical battles in Vietnam, yet still lost due to the loss of political support for the war at home. This is PURE Sun Tzu "winning without fighting is best" strategy. The negative experience of Vietnam lasted a long time after the official end of the conflict as well, thus aiding communist objectives of winning without directly militarily confronting the West if at all possible. The negative Vietnam experience created a lot of internal division within the United States and this was an intended strategy of the Asian communists. PURE Sun Tzu! This book will help you understand how the communists wished to defeat the west, not thru direct physical military confrontation but thru the "winning without fighting" mentality which IMO most Americans still cannot comprehend. And probably never will be able to, as its a purely Asian approach to war. The opposite of Sun Tzu would be Clausewitz's "On War."
Rating:
Summary: Deciphering the Art of War
Review: I will never tire of reading and using The Art of War to learn about myself and how I can improve - even just the little things. I don't claim to have nearly exhausted the value it can bring me. Read it in the contexts of how you interact with family, friends and of course work- yesterday, today and tomorrow - your "superiors", staff, peers and customers. Take some notes, re-read over & over again, maybe read components out loud to yourself. Perhaps it is easier to read if you only try to digest it in small bites as it might frustrate (certainly had that effect on me). There is value in reading it over time with someone else - much like playing chess by correspondance. Each move (page) can be savoured that way. Overall, like most things, you will get out of this book what you put in. It is quality time with your thoughts - enjoy it - you owe it to yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: exotic, obsolete, and advice for doing business??
Review: Americans have always shown a blind tendency to think the Chinese culture is wise and misterious. No wonder such book found its way onto the market--even its title implis a sense of wisdom and mistery. With such "wisdom" of war, the Chinese failed to win a single war against almost any intruder over the past 2000 years. Indeed they won some battles once in a while, but even with overwhelming population and productivity, the Chinese had been defeated and often ruled by Mongolians, Manchurians, British, and Japanese, to name just a few. Moreover, business today is more about creativity than undermining the competitiveness of rivals through cheating, conspiracy, and extortion. This book sure has historical value but I wonder if those who claim that it's full of valuable advice for the war and business today are sincere.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: This is a silly little book. I suspect that it is popular because of the Michael Douglas character in that movie..."Wall Street"? There are some clever little sayings of advice. I would not base a whole strategy, be it war or business or life, on it though. "No town should be attacked which, if taken, cannot be held, or if left alone, will not cause any trouble." (page 37) Brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: The Art. The Philosophy.
Review: The Art of War by Sun Tzu is a timeless classic. It is everything anyone ever wanted to know about the art of war and the art of leadership from a practical point of view. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. And, if you are really interested in this subject, I would also recommend Norman Thomas Remick's easy read on the philosophy behind all of Sun Tzu's great information (from a viewpoint of Western civilization), "West Point: Character Leadership Education....From The Readings And Writings Of Thomas Jefferson"
Rating:
Summary: Good translation
Review: Cleary is a wonderful translator, who brings books alive. Also, the book itself is a wonder of military theory, and the general principles behind it are still of value.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: Ah... the absurdity of it! Poor me reviewing the great work of Sun Tzu... Three stars! Take that! Salesmen & marketers, read Sun Tzu.
Students of war & engineers, read Clausewitz
Rating: 
Summary: A clear and useful translation
Review: The Art of War is a military classic, written around 400 BC. However, because the maxims contained in the book are so succinct and universal, this is still a useful book for understanding and waging war today. The central themes are to attack where the enemy is weak, deceive the enemy into attacking you on your terms (not his), and the use of espionage to confuse the enemy while gathering information for your own use. This book is a classical, scholarly translation. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the translation, as I do not read Chinese. However, the translator sprinkles the text with footnotes to explain why he has chosen certain phrases that do not directly translate, and offers alternative explanations from other translators. Therefore, you get a good feel for what Sun Tzu originally meant, especially through the critical inclusion of selected commentaries. In addition, there is an introduction by the author on the history and background of the text, which are useful. There are also some comments on the influence the text has had, especially on Mao Tse-tung and on the Imperial Japanese forces through World War II. Therefore, I certainly recommend this translation for a first-time reader such as myself.
Rating:
Summary: Read it and you'll be in good company...
Review: Warning to the faint of heart - the majority of this book is not an easy read. But I'm not sure that you will find an easy read of "The Art of War". Accept no imitations, though - Sun Tzu is the authority. The first 60 pages or so of this book gives the reader some history of 200 - 500 B.C. China. This section is filled with interesting artifacts, but the names and places are difficult to pronounce. This will slow your reading down quite a bit. The actual work "The Art of War" was only about 50 pages or so, filled not only with Sun Tzu's writing, but also the commentary of some of the many translators of the work. While a good portion of Sun Tzu's work may seem like common sense to some, he puts an excellent perspective on strategy and quantifying results. It is this perspective that has no doubt led to the popularity of this book amongst not only those interested in the military, but also businessmen. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing strategic acumen.
Rating:
Summary: Cleary makes a good translation
Review: This is a very good translation, but there are only a few fall-backs. First, he doesn't translate the entire art of war. The second is, its not as DIRECT as other translations because Cleary has dialouges between Tzu and others on every page. But to fully understand the Art of War, you must buy this book and the Demna Translation which is very literal and is the BEST translation. The Demna is harder to understand, thats why you need to pick up this Cleary version and read it with the Demna.
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