The Art of War
By Sun Tzu
4/5
()
About this ebook
Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher.
Translated by Lionel Giles (1875 – 1958)
Lionel Giles (1875 – 1958) was a British translator. He is most notable for his 1910 translation of The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Analects of Confucius.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu or Sunzi, was an ancient Chinese military strategist believed to be the author of the acclaimed military text, The Art of War. Details about Sun Tzu’s background and life are uncertain, although he is believed to have lived c. 544-496 BCE. Through The Art of War, Sun Tzu’s theories and strategies have influenced military leaders and campaigns throughout time, including the samurai of ancient and early-modern Japan, and more recently Ho Chi Minh of the Viet Cong and American generals Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s.
Read more from Sun Tzu
The Prosperity Bible: The Greatest Writings of All Time On The Secrets To Wealth And Prosperity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War (illustrated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Prosperity & Wealth Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War: Illustrated Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prosperity Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yes You Can! - 50 Classic Self-Help Books That Will Guide You and Change Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prosperity Bible: The Greatest Writings of All Time on the Secrets to Wealth and Prosperity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/550 Classic Self-Help And Motivational Books You Have To Read Before You Die (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War (Condensed Classics): History's Greatest Work on Strategy--Now in a Special Condensation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings30+ Classic Philosophy Book Collection: The Art of War, Poetics, The Republic, The Meditations, The Prince and others Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of War / The Book of Lord Shang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Art of War
Related ebooks
The Complete Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War: The Ancient Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War (Translated with commentary and an introduction by Lionel Giles) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Will to Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Antichrist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Communist Manifesto Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Wisehouse Classics Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As a Man Thinketh Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Analects of Confucius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA - A Book for All and None (World Classics Series): Philosophical Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think and Grow Rich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Analects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Brothers Karamazov Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wisdom of Confucius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMein Kampf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War: A Modern Interpretation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Social Contract Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Art of War
6 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A kind a brief review of how wars were conducted for centuries. Maybe some tactics are already used in a different way in todays wars.
Book preview
The Art of War - Sun Tzu
1958)
I. Laying Plans
1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline
5,6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.
10. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--
13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? (2) Which of the two generals has most ability? (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth? (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? (5) Which army is stronger? (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained? (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.
15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!
16. While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
17. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
18. All warfare is based on deception.
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.
24. Attack him where