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Summary: Great book
Review: You can use this book to learn strategy to deal with everyday situations in life. It is really intresting and very helpful.
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Summary: If you are in business, politics or military.....Buy it.
Review: The Art of War is about military strategy and tactics. The book was written centuries ago and its principles still apply, not only to the military field, but also to others such as business, sports, laws, politics, projects, etc.This book explain everything you have to know about competing...and competing smartly in a very pragmatic way .....from spying and signals, to war campaigns and resources administration. It is inevitable to transpose all the concepts you go learning to contemporary real life situations. The book was written thinking about war.....but within the modern competitive environment in wich we live, understanding this book really makes sense, specially for business purposes. This book is like Maquivelo would have written about war and not politics. I've heard of some versions written applying its concepts to several fields, but have not read them. I wanted to go straight to the original.....which is not hard to read. I really recommend this book, specially if you are in military, business or politics.
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Summary: "The Art of War" for those interested in war!
Review: I would like to put my two cents down for Colonel Griffith's translation and BH Lidell's forward, because, after all, "The Art of War" is really about military conflict. Many other translations exist, emphasizing the book's applications to business, politics, as a guide to life. While its lessons can be generalized to other fields of human enterprise, Sun Tzu was specifically talking about military struggle. In the case of this version, the writers are uniquely qualified to expound on Sun Tzu's rather terse text. Col. Griffith served with the U.S. Marines, and BH Lidell Hart was one of the most distinguished military historians of the 20th century. I feel these experiences give them insight into the text which other translators simply do not have. Regardless of one's knowledge of Chinese literature or Asian philosophy, in translating a military text it helps if you know something about military history.
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Summary: Genius of simplicity
Review: Genius of simplicity was Sun Tzu's great achievement in writing this, probably the greatest treatise on war strategy ever penned. For anybody who has ever inflicted the mind-numbingly dull Clausewitz on himself this is an invigorating blast of fresh air. Just thirteen chapters covering just about every essential thing you may need to know about war, strategy and tactics in such simple terms you slap your forehead in such disgust that you didn't think of them sooner. A comparison to Clausewitz is easy, Clausewitz tells you how to gear a state so that one army can crush another. Sun Tzu advises that the enemies army is one of the last targets you should have in mind and if you can win without fighting in the first place then so much the better. Clausewitz doesn't consider the alternatives at all. I agree with one previous reviewer, we shouldn't let our officers pass out if they can't quote this verbatim. Read this along with Musashi to understand strategy at all levels.
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Summary: The definitive guide to warfare.
Review: This book is simply legendary. Why? Something legendary is something that lasts forever. Now, The Art Of War was written by Sun Tzu in about 500BC, and guess, it's still applicable today. The book is divided into thirteen chapters, each explaining every topic on warfare, from laying plans to tactical dispositions and the use of spies. The foreword by James Clavell is very sharp and strong, appropriate to this book. You pretend that a book written in 500BC has many diffucult and not-still-in-use words, but it hasn't! It is so clear that seems simply too easy to understand. Many of the great generals of all time have read it, including the Chinese warriors, the Japanese shoguns, Julius Caesar and Napolean Bonaparte. If I was prime minister I would have made this book obligatory for students of all military warfare with an exam passmark of 95%, because simply, if you know it, you'll win. This is a great book from a great philosopher and it's well worth reading.
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Summary: The definitive guide to warfare
Review: This book was read by thousands of generals for ages. Examples are the Japanese shoguns,the Chinese warriors,Napoleon and many others. This book written by Sun Tzu in 500BC has got everything on warfare, from spies to how take advantage of the weather and the land relief. Basically, this is a MUST for who wants to know about warfare. So,come on......buy it!!!
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Summary: One of the greatest books of all time
Review: Sun Tzu present war as philosophical mindset. In his book, he gives rules and paradigms to follow to successfully outwit your enemy. The true beauty of this book is despite its technicality, guidelines and martial intent, it teaches the reader self control, discipline, and peace of mind. Despite its age, the wisdom still holds today, "Know your enemy, and know yourself and you will win 1000 battles before you lose even one". Its a shame most of us don't read Chinese because we will never know how this or any other version holds up to the original text.
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Summary: Rules No one follows
Review: This book is studied throughout the world in various languages, but it appears to have little to no effect on the way warfare is conducted. If our greatest Military leaders have been introduced to these precepts in War College, then why do they insist on permitting the unadulterated slaughter of our young soldiers in battle by using such inane tactics as the frontal assault? From the Civil War forward this insane tactic has dominated Military annuals. WHY? Sun Tzu would not approve of such waste. Any one interested in the Art of Warfare cannot deny that this book is the best. SunTzu's insights border on genius. Considering the historical time frame he was coming from, I would say his teaching is down right astounding. Read the book and find out for yourself. You will never look at the Art of Warfare the same again.
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Summary: The Art of The Art of War
Review: As the subject implies, this work is certainly a work of art. Although James Clavell in no way can take credit for this book he has done a great work puting this edition together. This is not only shown in the translation, but also in the foreword as well as in the numerous short interludes that describe events in the Chinese history - events that was either descided upon by the use of Sun Tzu's words, or events that makes a point. During the XIII chapters you are guided trough all aspects of desicion making in a very poetic but also very precise manner. This will give you a large part of the knowledge you will ever need when commanding your own army. However, this is where the great gets better - take this knowledge and use it in every day life. Wheter you are an admiral or a car salesman you will be able to draw conclusions from this work in a wide number of ways. So do not miss out on this book, this work of art, this book of war - this manual to life itself.
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Summary: Missing the boat to China?
Review: Its infuriating to read so many people praise a book they clearly do not understand when they think its a bunch of flowery Chinese words that can apply to anything and any situation. This is a sign that these folks do not understand THE most important book ever written about warfare. Because of this Western mindset failing, I have to place B.H. Liddell-Hart's Strategy as the FIRST and most important military book ever written--read this first THEN tackle Sun Tzu's Art of War. Together these are THE two most important military books ever written and for the impatient I will explain why. Hart explains through military history how warfare is a mental battle that is executed in the physical plane for a tangible result. Sun Tzu's thrust is the same--and its not just a gimmick or a ploy one uses by tacking onto a Western mindset of materialism or the like. The Eastern mind which Sun Tzu articulates does not see war or conflict as "good" or as a means to an end. Its in a fascinating way, a view that is more Judeo-Christian than the so-called Protestant reformation-based West's concepts of positional warfare and a climactic battle as a form of a nation-state duel that justifies their existence (raison d-etre) in that Sun Tzu sees the highest form of warfare is AVOIDING IT by deception and psychological ploys that result in the enemy becoming your friend because war is a waste for everyone that practices it. Those that see Sun Tzu as an after-school karate class one takes to be a nice-to-have adjunct to an ends-justifies-the-means run-over-people-to-get-what-you-want Western mindset are "missing the boat" and reading the book at a very shallow, selfish level. These folks are really wannabe Samarai reading a book for quiet ninjas. Sun Tzu also goes on to show that the epitome of warfighting is NOT "prolonged operations, however brilliantly executed" but the General who can avoid war and ironically by so doing receives no glory or acclaim yet is the true hero of the people and the state. What this means is that today--in the 21st Century with the information warfare means available to us, we can for the first time execute Sun Tzu's vision better than ever before because we can bypass armies and bloody fights and reach the hearts/minds of the people themselves--if we are clever and moral enough to do so. If we think of Sun Tzu as a parlor trick, we will not have the morality to persuade the other person to join our side and the trickery of physical fighting will only yield a temporary victory as the enemy rebounds at a later date. Sun Tzu looks deep into the human condition, to understand him you have to do the same; the way of a ninja is more closely related to this kind of thinking than a samurai looking for public acclaim/attention. A true ninja today would use Sun Tzu to make the militaries of the free world more effective in 4th Generation War (See Van Crevald's The Transformation of War) and use all the customary battlefield tricks of indirectness and deception he talks about if these primary efforts fail. If you want to truly understand Sun Tzu, get your mind on the right boat to China and look deep into your condition as a human and put aside what he says as gimmicks.
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