The Art of War

Rating:
Summary: Thanks for the news, neighbor!
Review: And for the rest of you, the Giles translation is trash! Although he deserves some credit for his early work (this edition predates Griffith's), it is a shoddy attempt to one-up an EARLIER attempt by another translator. And so I say...
CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Rating:
Summary: Astoundingly insightful, even after 2000+ years
Review: Written long before MBA programmes and graduate schools of management were formed, this book is often considered THE authority on managing people and competitive situations. Sun Tzu was a remarkably insightful man, who seems to have captured the psychology of combat and running a team. So many of the principles he espouses are applicable in civilian life that it is worth reading by anybody managing people. There are sections in the book that deal very specifically with fighting (especially the discussions on terrain), but many of the other chapters could replace the word 'army' with 'team' and the meaning would be the same. Whilst many of the lessons appear simplistic and obvious, experience tells us that sometimes common sense is not so common. Sometimes concepts need to be presented in a simplified fashion for their full power to be revealed. I think that any person either training to be a leader or is already one (military or civilian) should read this book and ponder it's meaning.

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Summary: This is not the complete text
Review: The Griffith translation is my favorite for many reasons: The author's own knowledge of war, the commentaries, etc. However, Amazon has really screwed up on this one. Despite how it is noted, this is NOT the Griffith translation, this is the Giles translation, which is in the public domain and available for free at several places on the web. Amazon, practicing the art of deception?

Rating:
Summary: Excellent If Read Historically; Terrible For Business
Review: As an exposition on Chinese General Sun Tzu's ideas of fighting, "The Art of War" is an excellent source to use to look upon the spirit of ancient Chinese war. Written as truly a guide for sucessful battle campaigns, it is functionally just that. It provides a glimpse at how Chinese generals (yes plural - thanks to commentary that is given) viewed fighting and winning battles. In many ways, it provides a philosophical view of how full frontal assaults and pride can lead to the fall of conquests. However, this work is often misused as an application for businesses by capitalists who think that they too should treat the market as a war-zone. In this case, they reduce Tzu's warfare (which would be used to defend the good) to something that harms innocent workers for self-aggrandizement.

If not read from a greedy capitalist standpoint, "The Art of War" provides an excellent source of enlightenment about war tactics of ancient China (that are in many ways applicable today). However, to use Tzu's work as a guide on how to work (and hence, live) is a terrible reason for reading "The Art of War".

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Summary: Good book but the practice is a bit silly...
Review: The invention of the atom bomb and many other new technologies have pretty much had an impact on the philosophy of this book but it is still a good read. A few things do stand out though, like others have mentioned. How good are the Chinese at fighting war? Japan certainly slapped them around. Most of that was the result of biological warfare and the development of medical practices during war times.

Read the book for the philosophy which is pretty good but I certainly would not count on this to get you out of trouble in a dark alley at night. I would also not count on it to help you win a war.

Rating:
Summary: Historically interesting, but...
Review: ...how successful have the Chinese really been at the art of war? Not very, quite the opposite actually (Vietnam handed them their asses on a platter). The Chinese suck at war, thanks to Sun-Tzu! He is often quoted but most of his ideas are simple commonsense, and are unlikely to help in any situation. Don't believe the hype, but still, read the book.

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Summary: An incredible translation of a most important work...
Review: Indeed, I am heartened to read one reviewer lambasting the general critical acceptance of "The Art of War" as "flowery". Unfortunately, most Westerners see Chinese philosophy as little more than yoga meditation and interior decoration. Of course, this is not the case.

Take, for example, Sun's "Art of War". Here is a man sick of watching ancient Chinese warlords wage war in a sloppy, haphazard fashion (more as a social tradition than anything else), wasting their populace's resources and lives. Thus, Sun writes a magnum opus discussing the proper means of waging war, from gaining the support of the people to clearly articulating goals to ensuring success of well-trained armies in short and long campaigns all the way to the minute details of using fire (even setting other people on fire). Far from the flowery rhetoric of most Western diatribes on Taoism and Buddhism and (enter your favorite Chinese term here), the Art of War is at once simple and immediate, which is why it has survived for 2500 years.

Griffith's translation of this work is masterful as well. Included are many of the commentaries of the ancient scholars (including, for you Three Kingdoms fans, copious amounts of Cao Cao), which show how Sun's text was used in various situations, both in war AND peace). Also, he includes an excellent introduction which places the work in its historical context and speaks of Mao Zedong's use of its precepts. Also are five appendices, one of which contains the other famous Art of War, that of Wu. I was particularly surprised at his none-too-flattering comments regarding the Japanese understanding of this work (truthfully, I think that too many people see the art of war in the Gordon Gecko, "Rising Sun" business sense), particularly in pointing out their blunders during WWII.

All in all, reader, you will be hard-pressed to find a better translation of this seminal work.

Rating:
Summary: 2500 Years. Still Necessary.
Review: The Art of War was originally intended for reading by ancient China's ruling military elite, and not lowly commoners such as us. It is one of the few great books people seem to be universally familiar with, and for good reason.

The struture is blindingly simple - Sun Tzu writes short chapters about different areas of battle which consist of simple dictums. Utterly straightforward, and generalisable to any form of conflict.

Surface-reading this book will take you minutes, not hours - however, time must be spent with even the barest of his principles. The purchase of this book has become alarmingly trendy over recent years, but with no noticeable effect on the global intelligence of its middle manager market. Books like this do not read themselves.

A more accurate edition would have gained 5 stars without a second thought. The fact that much better versions are available (and freesource!) holds this version back.

Rating:
Summary: A true classic.
Review: Sun Tzu's The Art of War is more than just a collection of common-sense adages. It is a comprehensive treatment of war and its relationship to society as a whole. At first, some of the selections seem obvious and naive. But then you come across a pearl of wisdom that really makes you think. And only after reading the entire book, and some historical backing too, do you realize what an achievement the book really is. Anyone that is interested in politics and warfare will find The Art of War to be very enlightening.

Rating:
Summary: The ms ebook version is sloppily done.
Review: I am highly disappionted in this version. No indication of author, publication date, edition, etc. is given. The foreward and preface are missing. The titles are not hypertexted. A huge "From the library of" is in the middle of the chapter list. Some pages are blank. Chapters are cut off in mid-sentence. Amazon.com is at the head of every chapter.
The version I wanted was Griffith's. This is not it. I don't know whose it is. The translation is not as accurate or communicative. This was a gamble that didn't pay off.
Caveat emptor.