Book: Buy The Art of War Online

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So no matter what you were looking for in this book, whether it be business, sports, war games, or actual wars, you can be sure to learn more on how to best deal with the situation through the strategies in this book.

The book is timeless....and should be required reading for all persons.

Sun tzu's work is classic. Anyone interested in war, business, human conflict, strategy, politics or philosophy should read this book.

This book was written in 500BC in ancient China (before it was actually china) and is the first known written work to logically analyze the anomaly of war. In the first sentence of the work, it declares war is a recurring theme in man's world and that it must be studdied. Sun Tzu sees war, not as a temporary thing, but a constant threat. He also recognizes battle and war as a fluid, dynamic situation that is constantly changing. As can be seen in the following passage -

"Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and attacks weakness. As water shapes its flow in accordance to the ground, so an army manages its victory in accordance with the situation of the enemy. As water has no constant form, there are no constant conditions in war."

His concepts are simple, but deep at the same time. Attack weakness, retreat from strength. Do the opposite of what your enemy thinks you will do. Fool your enemy into doing what you want him to. A famous quote from the book is "a great general attacks an already defeated army".

The great thing about this book is that it is so consice, yet open. The concepts of the work are very consice and easy to read yet they are broad enough to be open to interpretation through a variety of alternate perspectives. For instance the concepts can easily be applied to business, or to person to person relationships, in fact they can be applied to almost anything that involves human conflict.

One can only wish that GW Bush had such insight as is seen in the following passage:

"if not in the interests of the state, do not act. If you cannot succeed do not use troops. If you are not in danger, do not fight. A sovereign cannot raise an army because he is enraged, nor can a general fight because he is resentful. For while an angered man may again be happy, and a resentful man again be pleased, a state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life."

This version of the Art of War:

I found this version (by Samuel Griffith) to be very good. It included biographical information, background info, related works, and information on the translation. Im not sure how many translations there have been of the AOW, but this seems a very good one. I would definatley reccomend this book to anyone interested in such things.

This particular book spends more time trying to identify and qualify SunTzu's writings than just quoting them. I will not go through all the arguments as to who "wrote what when" or "translated what when" as you can read this for yourself.

Another distraction is the attempt to show how the book was applied or not applied in recent wars. This may be interesting to someone who's intention is to apply the theories of Sun Tzu; however it is not his writing but someone else's interpretation of its application.

Now lets finally get to Sun Tzu. It is easy with hindsight and a closer look at the future to dismiss Sun Tzu as his practical tactical knowledge is of a time and place long gone. He spends a lot of time on the use of weapons and information gathering techniques of the time. This can be interesting in a historical context; other wise it is quite amusing.

Oh yes those grains of truth I mentioned, well they may sound like cliches but thy are still viable. "Know your enemy and know yourself". Others are just practical sense and statistical outcomes that you learn in any military training. I could go through the list, but again that is why you buy the book.

Now just as you decide that the book is outdated for any practical purposes today we have artillery and now stealth and precision, the reminder that "no two wars are alike" and "it is flexibility that makes a difference" is being shown today to still be true. Even in today's wars there is a need for good intelligence and deception. We put a lot of time and energy into Psy-Ops. Sun Tzu shows the advantage in specialized units and crack troops.

I have spent several years in the military and in business and can say this book is a nice addition to history, otherwise of very little value to today's wold for war or business.