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Summary: The classic handbook for military strategists
Review: The Art of War is a collection of essays dealing with strategy in warfare and is attributed to Sun Tzu who was a Chinese general around 500 B.C. His contributions are the earliest known treatises on the subject and have never been surpassed in comprehensiveness or depth of understanding. Sun Tzu's realism and moderation form a contrast to another well known military theorist, namely Karl Von Clausewitz who emphasized the logical ideal. World renowned author and military hero Sir Basil Henry Liddell-Hart, who is often lauded as the greatest military strategist of the century, provides a foreword where he outlines his praise for the essays' intrinsic value and foresight from 2500 years ago.
The translation begins with an introduction and biography of Sun Tzu and presents supporting information concerning the theory that Sun Tzu may not be the original author. The mysticism surrounding the controversy adds a secretive flavor to the text, common when scholars study ancient Chinese history. Before commencing with the strategic elements to winning, a background is provided which establishes the setting and status of each state, warfare tactics of the age along with the basis for war and how Sun Tzu would influence future Chinese leaders, notably Mao Zedong.
The Art of War was the first attempt to institute a standard for combat and warfare on the battle field. While created with an emphasis on military operations and combat settings, the concept has had farther reaching effect than planned. Since survival is the defining goal, Sun Tzu's ideals have evolved in nonmilitary facets of many oriental cultures which is shown most prominently in their business policies and negotiations. In this respect, Southeast Asian economies view business as war and therefore take trade and industry more serious than Western cultures.
The core of Sun Tzu's essays are his 13 characteristics necessary to winning conflicts. Each explains the significance to strategy and how the proper employment results in victory. One of the major aspects of winning according to Sun Tzu is controlling all phases of the war in conjunction with the ability to shift interactions to maintain the advantage. Tzu preaches the moral path as the way to victory instead of annihilation. Sun Tzu asserts that attacking the opposition leader's mind is more effective and less costly than overwhelming physical force.
The Art of War is difficult to read at points, a common occurrence when translating from language to language. This fact should not be a deterrence, given the significance of the subject matter and the applicability for today's world. The text incorporates notes to further explain the material covered and aides the reader with explanations for difficult translations from Chinese to English. Reference pages such as a list of abbreviations and brief biographies from Western commentators are included in the appendix. Works cited pages together with excerpts from Wu Chi, who had a major influence on Sun Tzu's military thought, further enhance the audience's knowledge base on the subject.
The piece reads like a how-to manual, providing step by step instructions. The Art of War is still widely read by world leaders and military commanders coupled with another well known strategy model, Machiavelli's Prince. Sun Tzu shares the comparable company of Von Clausewitz and Baron Antoine Henri Jomini as the top strategists of all time.
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Summary: A Masterpiece!!!
Review: I first learned about this book when I was reading selections from it in another book called A Collection of Wisdom (which, by the way, I highly recommend to anybody and everybody). I found the passages so outstanding that I soon became a full-fledged Art of War fan, reading anyhting and everything on it and even frequenting the internet Sun Tzu sites.
It is really amazing how this book is still applicable today, and not just to military operations, but to so many other aspects of life. Sun Tzu teaches in a straightforward style how to command an operation of utmost efficiency and effectiveness. Everything he recommends is only concerned with the best ends to the best means.
Rather than formulate rigid guidlines, Sun Tzu teaches us to base strategy on the infinite variety of circumstances and based on the foe we are facing. He teaches us to know ourselcves and whether we are in condition to attack, to know our enemies and know if they are in the condition to be atttacked, and to know the environmentla conditions in order to deermine whether fighting is practical. He advises us to have a balanced perspective based on defense and offense, the former protecting ourselves from defeat, and the latter making victory complete. He tells us to know the oppoenets weak spots and exploit them, and to avod where he is strong. And of course, he tells us to base warfare on deception, and to use direct methods and indirect methods in combination.
To use Sun Tzu's way, you must guard yourself, put on false appearances, and wait for the enemy to give you an opponent to make a mistake or leave himself open for atack. Then you must capitalize on it. He also says we shoudl bait opponents into vulnerbale spots. And we must use spies to gather information.
He also offers perspectives on picking the right people for the right jobs, and utilizing combined energy. Sun Tzu also tells us to be precise in out timing, and to avoid prolonged warfare, and know that the great aim is victory, and not lengthy campaigns.
I have read abut a dozen translations, all of them pretty good. Honestly, my favorite is the old school Lionel Giles translation. Also check out the book A Collection of Wisdom by Rodney Ohebsion, which although it does not contain the complete text, it contains most of best parts, and in what I think is the best translation of all.
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Summary: The Best of the Best
Review: This book is absolutely brilliant, and reading it is a tremendous experience. Sun Tzu is the master, and the Art of War, though aimed specifically on military warfare, is a masterpiece on general strategy and tactics that can be used in many sitautions. In fact, I will bet you that many of the most succesful sports coaches, boxers, businessmen, politicians, etc. use tactics similar to those found in this book.
The Art of War is not a long book, but despite its size, it is totally packed with content. Some themes of the book include
- always ensuring you are prepared
- adapting and responding to circumstances
- knowing yourself, the enemy, and the environment
- being unpredictable, secretive, and deceptive
- making calculations
- exploiting opportunities
- avoiding your enemy's strengths, and attacking his weak spots
- causing disorder among your enemy
- using baits to manipulate others
- ensuring good teamwork through picking the right people to do the right job, good communication, and synergy
- knowing when to fight and when not to fight
The book is an absolute gem. It is invaluable and a must read. Sun Tzu has a beatiful style, and I really love the Lionel Giles translation, which although old, is still for the most part highly readable and among the best there is. Also check out my tranlsation and selection of passages contained in my book A Collection of Wisdom.
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Summary: George Bush Read This Book?
Review: (...) Overall though I have to admit that I didn't love the book. So many ppl recommended the book to me that I was truly hoping it was going to be a favorite but i was frankly board throughout most of what I found to be extremely obvious observations. Perhaps I'll give it anothe try and try to soak up more of the subtle details at a later time when I have more patience.
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Summary: GEORGE BUSH MUST HAVE READ THIS
Review: "The Art of War" is a book that any Wall Street dealmaker needs to read. It also is obvious that the true lessons of this book demonstrate precisely why George Bush was as right as rain when he went into Afghanistan and Iraq. Sun Tzu writes not about popularity but strength and victory. I would much rather America be strong and in control, winning the War on Terror as we are, than a crippled giant, which is the way many countries might like us - until our crippled condition makes it harder to defend them from obliteration as we have doner many times. I'll take respect over love in when it comes to geo-politics.
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Summary: The ageless art
Review: One would intuitively think that any book on war written thousands of years ago would long-since be rendered obsolete by all the technological advances in warfare that have occured over the past few centuries. Not so, says Sun Tzu. The present text is perhaps even more relevant today than when the master put pen to scribe.The best generals throughout history (Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon, Lee, Patton) have all either innately grasped the lessons of this book, or they have learned by reading from the master. The worst generals, on the other hand (Nicias, Crassus, Hooker, Burnside) have been oblivious to Sun Tzu's teachings - and more often than not they paid dearly for their shortcomings. Much of THE ART OF WAR is straightforward. Some of it even falls under the category of common sense. Amazingly, even the most rudimentary instructions have been ignored by military leaders down through the ages. If, perhaps, there is one single "golden" rule of warfare that Sun Tzu would ultimately allude to, it is this: warfare is a complicated business. Do not enter into it without thinking through what it is you wish to accomplish by going to war. Do not go into combat half-cocked, and don't rely on half-baked plans or half-wit generals. The penalty for not following this dictum could very well be either your annihilation or the financial and materiel ruin of your society. For further elaboration on this point I will defer you to the Chinese sage himself. Given the amount of information rendered by this book, it is a surprisingly quick read. As a bonus, we are also able to peruse the trenchant commentary of various other Chinese military persons. This book is, quite simply, a must for the military historian - both amateur & professional. I would hope that it is standard reading for all major war colleges in my country. While the instruments of war change over the centuries, the rules of war remain constant.
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