The Art of War

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Summary: The Art of War..or Peace?..both.
Review: This is the first edition of "The Art of War" I've read and I'm glad I made the decision to pick this one up. Cleary does a remarkable job in the introduction of explaining Sun Tzu's philosophy. The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict altogether unnecessary: "To overcome others' armies without fighting is the best of skills."

Also, Cleary goes into detail of the Taoist aspect of the text by using quotes and examples from other ancient writings including the Tao Te Ching.

A rather nice touch to this edition is that following each of Tzu's sentences or paragraphs (written in boldface to be indentified easily) are the further explanations of various Chinese commentators from Cao Cao in 155-200 C.E. to Ho Yanxi of the Sung Dynasty. These commentaries help to easily show the finer points of each ideology.

Overall, a quality work that I'd recommend to anyone interested in reading "The Art of War".

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Summary: Lead, Follow Or Shut Up
Review: Sun Tzu captured the ability to grab attention and then command it. Art of War tells literally how to command troops, watch them, and use them to the ultimate exploitaion of the enemy. Figuratively however, he tells how management should play their role at work, and even how great leaders should "command, watch, and use their troops." A philosophy one should not be without.

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Summary: College gold mine
Review: I been in college for 3 years now and have avoided reading the art of war for some time now. now thought that i am moveing to my policitial studies major i am finding that all the tatics and theroies that Sun Tzu propesed have even more relaiance than it did 2000 years ago. Makes you think if Clition can read or not when it comes to forgien policy. In short Tzu states violiance is the last step to any conflict first anf formost you should use spies and inteliance. THe application of force by the us is frightening and can be counter production mabe all those west point and navel ad. should open this book and learn from a master just my two cents

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Summary: Simply Ingenious
Review: The greatest book i have ever read about war. It is not only about war, but about self-examination. It is a grand -- a must read for anyone. I especially ask all CEOs to read this magnum opus.

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Summary: Bobby Knight says so
Review: I was in a class taught by Bobby Knight at Indiana University last semster and he didn't talk about basketball. He talked about leadership and how to suceed in life. And the book he used to to explain all this was Tzu: THe Art of War. He told us that he used this book alot in life and read from it during classes. After that I read the book, I realized where his shade of greatness comes from.

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Summary: A classic work on srategy
Review: Military strategy written 1,000's of years ago and fully applicable to today in buiness and personal life. Sun Tzu had amazing insight. Strategies for dealing with an adversary from a testy co-worker to planning a business takeover. Many things change, but the principles presented here are fundamental and transcent time.

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Summary: Misinformation
Review: I believe that your description, "James Clavell has taken a 1910 translation and clarified it for the contemporary reader", does not refer to this specific text which is translated by Griffith, and not Clavell. Good Luck.

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Summary: A must...
Review: A must read for anyone interested in Asian philosophy, war, or stratagems to be used in life in general. Put this on your reading list today.

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Summary: A timeless classic
Review: A really great work knows no boundaries of time and is relevant to all societies past, present and future. This masterpiece fits the description and the valued wisdom in this ageless book can be applied to many situations in life. Average books come and go but this magnificent work has stood the test of time and will continue to age gracefully into the future.

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Summary: Cleary Readys Reader for Dealing with Conflict
Review: I find Cleary's translation of this great classic to be true to the author's intended purpose, as well as bringing to light the thoughts of other classical Chinese authors. I particularly enjoyed Cleary's introduction to the text, which crystalized my own thoughts regarding strategy in the face of conflict. Including the interpretations of a number of other classical thinkers, while ocassionally repititious also illustrates to the reader the clear focus of Sun Tzu. Over a period of hundreds of years, this work has been read and translated and interpreted, yet despite the differences in authors and in the times from which they wrote, few disagreements over the meaning of the original are ever disclosed. For anyone needing a clear guide to approaching conflict at whatever level, Cleary's translation of The Art of War is right on target