Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    Ebook53 pages51 minutes

    The Art of War

    By Sun Tsu

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Written 2500 years ago, The Art of War is the oldest military treatise in the world, a classic study of competition and rivalry that has been utilized by soldiers ever since. Napoleon studied its strategies and tactics. It is required reading for intelligence personnel in the United States Marine Corps. "Warriors" of Wall Street and in corporation cultures rely on it for guidance. It's even been rumored to help players win at the board game Risk. This 1910 translation by the British Museum's Lionel Giles is the most popular one available, a highly readable version of this still startlingly relevant text.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCosimo Classics
    Release dateApr 1, 2016
    ISBN9781616409814
    The Art of War
    Author

    Sun Tsu

    SUN TZU was a Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher who lived in China in the 6th century BC. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, a widely influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and Eastern philosophy. Sun Tzu is revered in China as a legendary historical figure. His birth name was Sun Wu; the name Sun Tzu by which he is best known is an honorific that means "Master Sun."

    Related to The Art of War

    Related ebooks

    Asian History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Art of War

      Aug 7, 2018

      The Art of War
      2 min read

    • Article

      Slave Soldiers

      Nov 18, 2022

      Slave Soldiers
      6 min read

    • Article

      Khan’t Compete

      Apr 1, 2021

      Khan’t Compete
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Great War: Western Front

      Nov 1, 2022

      The Great War: Western Front
      5 min read

    • Article

      Armed Forces Were Abolished?

      Aug 10, 2021

      Change is hard. Even radical activists can struggle to envisage a world without established institutions and practices. Perhaps this is why most anti-war campaigners stop short of calling for the abolition of military forces. There’s a common misconc

      2 min read

    • Article

      Raise An Immortal Empire In Total War: Warhammer III

      Sep 15, 2022

      1 Aside from slaughtering your foes, the first priority is to get some growth going to access better garrisons and units. Construct a growth building, use a commandment, a slave diktat, or even a hero skill. If you’ve got a port, that also counts as

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Original Grognards

      Mar 7, 2022

      The Original Grognards
      5 min read

    • Article

      Total War: Three Kingdoms

      Jun 20, 2019

      Total War: Three Kingdoms
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Good Military Leader

      May 19, 2021

      A Good Military Leader
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Total War Saga: Troy

      Jun 25, 2020

      A Total War Saga: Troy
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Great War: Western Front

      Dec 27, 2022

      The Great War: Western Front
      3 min read

    • Article

      Trench Foot

      Apr 27, 2023

      The Great War: Western Front is not a real-time strategy game for perfectionists. World War I was infamously attritional, claiming the lives of 40 million civilians and military personnel. So, when you sound the whistle and send your boys over the to

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Total War Saga: Troy

      Jul 14, 2020

      A Total War Saga: Troy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Death, Confusion, And Darkness

      Aug 3, 2021

      There are a handful of well-known engagements taking place at night in late antiquity. At the Battle of Adrianople (AD 378), fighting between the Gothic and Roman forces continued into the night, resulting in chaos and many hundreds, if not thousands

      8 min read

    • Article

      Common Sense, Not Cowardice

      Sep 7, 2021

      Common Sense, Not Cowardice
      5 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Play Strength And Honour

      Nov 7, 2021

      Let’s Play Strength And Honour
      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Fight A War q+a With Dr Mike Martin

      Jan 19, 2023

      War is a complicated and destructive force that has consumed and bedevilled humanity for many thousands of years. Many commanders across history have made terrible decisions on how to conduct warfare, leading to innumerable military and civilian deat

      9 min read

    • Article

      Khan’t Compete

      Apr 20, 2021

      Khan’t Compete
      3 min read

    • Article

      Defend The Residency

      Nov 18, 2022

      Defend The Residency
      6 min read

    • Article

      Lords Of War

      Mar 18, 2019

      Lords Of War
      10 min read

    • Article

      Messana: The Spark That Lit A Flame

      Jan 7, 2022

      Messana: The Spark That Lit A Flame
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Line Must Hold

      Nov 25, 2019

      The Line Must Hold
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mid-term Report

      Sep 23, 2022

      I’m pleased to report satisfactory progress so far on the paint—unpaint ratio, with a good batch of figures now completed. My current project is to acquire and restore ancient armies using figures from the early to mid-1970s: primarily Minifigs, and

      6 min read

    • Article

      10 Maxims Ancient For Modern Militaries

      May 16, 2019

      Sun Tzu is the ultimate military guru and The Art Of War is the ultimate military self-help book. It consists of 13 chapters containing a total of 385 maxims. Most are common sense, a few are completely inscrutable, while others remain universal trut

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Art of War

    4/5

    3,048 ratings69 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I'm so glad I finally read this historic book. I found it very interesting and understand why it has been adapted to suit other fields -- notably management. And the version of the book I bought is beautiful in itself. Bound in traditional Chinese style, with each page folded in half and only printed on the outside. Hard to rate -- it is what it is as they say -- but I'm rating it highly because it has stood the test of time.
    • 5/5
      An enduring classic, an absolute must-read for every business person and military mind the world over.
    • 5/5
      I give it a 5 because it's a classic that you can read in under an hour. One of the best books I have read. Simple, basic, and a great strategy foundation. I refer to it all the time. Great book from a historical standpoint, but certainly is a great asset in business.
    • 4/5
      A classic that is as valuable for war strategies as it is for work and everyday relations.My edition is from Shambhala, and translated by Thomas Cleary (famed for his translations of Miyamoto Musashi's work, as well as his biography).In this edition, each of the passages is interpreted by 11 different people (from Li Quan to Zhang Yu), for scope and perspective. While it's not necessary to include so many interpreters, I find that the different perspectives (and wording) sometimes made Master Sun's wisdoms clearer.
    • 3/5
      All the guff about it being the greatest management text in history is of course utter nonsense, but it's an interesting read. I preferred and would recommend the Hagakure if you're after samurai warrior philosophy.
    • 5/5
      The version I have also has a second section for commentaries on all the passages. It's an incredibly useful and insightful book, and not necessarily just for literal war.
    • 5/5
      Tactics and strategies that apply to everyday life. This book is excellent reading to make you think about how to deal with the day to day struggles of life. It helps you position you versus your opponent. Your opponent need not be any one person. It could be a corporation. It could be an establishment. It could be a situation you are facing. I was once told that what you get out of a book is the effort you put into a book. It is my hope that this book can help someone master how they deal with day to day life. Let me know what you think. By the way, how many Enron or Worldcomm employees do you think read this book?

      On another note, I would ask that you do not take this book literally. It is laced with allegory and a ton of symbolism. Please take its contents and apply them to your life for the good of all.
    • 5/5
      one of the best books I've ever read; just be careful of the translator. There are some really horrendous editions out there. ALWAYS buy the one translated by "CLEARLY" he is very profound in eastern philosophy and tradition
    • 3/5
      A little book full off great thoughts and advice for life. I read it every year.
    • 3/5
      Another translation (Ralph Sawyer) and lots of background history & hints of textual analysis - but fails to grab.Read July 2006
    • 4/5
      A classic! Well worth the read, and looking forward to reading again in the future.
    • 4/5
      It is a really old book, but still has much application to everyday life in modern times. The book is a little hard to read at times. However, the knowledge you get from reading it worth it. I recommend everyone read this title at least once in their lifetime.
    • 4/5
      I think one of the reasons why this book has been and probably always will be so popular, is that many different people can read read it for many different reasons. Among the most obvious: some people read it to learn about war (like Tom Ricks, who quotes it in his famous book about Iraq), some people are drawn into it by an interest in the Far East (like the translator, M. Giles himself, who was a student of all things Chinese), and some people just like it because it's really really old and really really cool, and I guess that's part of the reason why I like it. And although the German wrote another famous-book about war, he was, being German, boring. But then, some things can be both popular, and well-reasoned, and, as a philosophical essay to discover the nature of war, this little book does a fine job. Recall what Aristotle says in the first sentence of his 'Nicomachean Ethics': "Every art...seems to aim at some good, and so it has been well said that the good is that at which everything aims." So, what good does The Art Of War aim at? (Absolutely nothin'--ugh! Well, no, sorry.) Well, in a way, the art of war aims to conduct war well, just as the art of baking bread aims to bake bread well. But what does that mean, in real terms? I think that if we examine the thought of Master Sun, we find that the good at which the art of war aims is to achieve victory, not by inflicting the maximum amount of destruction, but by causing the absolute minimum: for to cause much destruction is not so good. And I think he does all that with a certain sort of style, too: "II. Waging War 3. Again, if the campaign be protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. 5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. 6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. 7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on. 8. The skilful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his suppy-wagons loaded more than twice. 19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns." And it's good to remind all those annoying, noisy military history fanatics that the longest, most destructive wars are the *worst*, because people *die* and things get *destroyed* and that's *bad*. (8/10)
    • 5/5
      The Art of War is a treasure trove of information...if you study war, ancient China, Strategy, or military history...it is useless when applied to business, I think. I love this text, but I study ancient Asian texts. Giles' translation is the one which all others are measured and it has the text with commentary and without, and in the original Chinese. As a study text this is superb, as a manual for business, it a weak application.Miso
    • 2/5
      If you're already self-actualized (read: me), this is nothing but a bunch of shih.
    • 5/5
      A subtle and fascinating philosophy on how to wage war. Knowledge of assured victory is key for Sun Tzu. At once it is esoteric and simple giving the reader the opportunity to find new angles and places to learn with each repeated reading. Intense and interesting. (Shambhala translation)
    • 3/5
      Classic, brilliant techniques put so simply. Yet, naturally, reading this as a modern day civilian, I applied it to my modern day battles such as in business, relationships, Los Angeles traffic...the typical. As a naturally paranoid person, I feel it did me more harm than good. In addition, I prefer to (perhaps ignorantly) avoid seeing things as if they are wars. Some things will never change though because I will always act shy and giggle right before I slaughter my enemy.
    • 2/5
      This is a manual and reads like one. Better to take in very small doses, digest and discuss rather than to read continuously.
    • 2/5
      An interesting book, written with just short quips of information but it still seemed to flow rather seamlessly. A decent book with some good info, some of it could be still used today some of it would obviously not apply anymore to today's wars. A good read, enjoyable, and really quick.
    • 5/5
      Awesome for anyone looking for a good strategy book. helps with any type of war situation, I recommend reading it if you choose to go into the military.
    • 4/5
      (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally here.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write essays on whether or not they deserve the label. The Art of War is essay #27 of this series.The story in a nutshell:More of a technical manual than a piece of general literature, The Art of War is a field guide of sorts by famed Chinese military leader Sun Tzu, written it's believed sometime in the 6th century BC (during the period when China was coming together as a unified empire for the first time in history), as a way of instructing other commanders how to have as much success on the battlefield as he had had. (And please know that there's a debate among scholars as well regarding whether Sun Tzu even wrote this book by himself, or if like many other classics from antiquity this isn't in fact a sly compilation, gathering up the best thoughts back then from amongst a whole group of military strategists.) Now of course let's not forget that Sun Tzu was a Taoist as well, so of course his particular advice is going to be Taoist in nature, a very important thing to understand in order to really "get" this book; he sees the best war, for example, as the one that's never actually fought, because you've already dismantled the enemy's forces through sabotage and cunning to the point where they can't put up a resistance in the first place. And so it is throughout this extremely slim book (which in fact is more like a long magazine article) -- chapter after chapter of surprisingly spiritual text concerning the fine art of getting what you want, even when other people are actively trying to stop you from doing so.The argument for it being a classic:It's a 2,500-year-old book still being read and studied on a daily basis, argue its fans; what more do you want? And in the meanwhile, it's influenced nearly every Western military leader since first being translated into a Romantic language (French) in 1782, racking up a whole list of self-declared admirers from Napoleon to Norman Schwarzkopf. And if this weren't enough, starting in the 1980s it also gained a whole new life as a surprisingly apt if not Machiavellian guide to the corporate business world, best typified by symbol-of-yuppie-greed Gordon Gekko from Oliver Stone's fantastic movie Wall Street, who is constantly walking around quoting from it as a way to justify his monstrous, inhuman actions. If all of this isn't enough to safely consider a book a classic, ask its fans, what is?The argument against:The case against this being a classic seems to be one used a lot with books over a thousand years old; that even if that book turns out to be historically important (and it usually does), it might be better at this point to actually study the book and how it affected society, not read the book itself for pleasure anymore. Always remember, that's part of how I'm defining "classic" here in this CCLaP 100 series, is not just how important that title has been to human history, but also whether it's worth literally sitting down and reading it page-for-page yourself, no matter if you have any specific interest in that book's subject or not. If it's yes on the former but no on the latter, as critics of this book claim, then by my definition it's not a classic, but rather simply a historically important book that should be studied by the general public but not necessarily read.My verdict:So let me start by admitting how surprisingly readable this is for being 2,500 years old, and that it really does translate metaphorically to the business world surprisingly elegantly; after all, since it's a guide to war written by a Taoist, it's more of a symbolic examination of how to get out of life what you want the most, even in the face of tough opposition, with advice that is surprisingly relevant to the modern world even when he's talking about the mechanics of medieval Asian warfare. (Just for one example, near the beginning he talks in one paragraph about how a successful commander will literally steal the food of their enemy, both to sap the enemy's strength and to avoid the burden of having to carry all that food to battle themselves; this may not seem to have much relevance to the modern business world at first, until you stop and think about it in terms of stealing talent from your competitors, literally the intellectual "food" nourishing their "army" of goods and services competing against your own.)That said, though, I think ultimately I'm going to have to side with the critics this time; that unless you're a military commander or corporate raider yourself, most people's eyes are going to quickly gloss over while trying to read this book, merely after the first few pages. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely think this should be a primer for people who are getting into the profession themselves; this should for sure be a must-read not only for soldiers, for example, but also the politicians in charge of those soldiers' budgets. But this is a perfect example of the surprisingly complicated process of determining whether a book is a classic or not, the entire reason I started this essay series in the first place; because unless competitive strategy actually is your business, most people will find it more rewarding to spend their time reading up on how this book has affected history, and of the circumstances in ancient China that led to it getting written in the first place. There's really only one major lesson in The Art of War for a non-military general audience to get -- that most battles are won based on how well one can surprise the enemy, usually by deceiving them using their own weaknesses (to act incompetent when the enemy is haughty, for example, threatening when they're meek, picking them off at the edges when they outnumber you, destroying their supply lines when they're far from home); for those not interested in the nitty-gritty of how to actually accomplish such things, though, there's actually a lot more to be learned by studying how such a thing has been attempted over the centuries, making the book certainly important but not necessarily a classic.Is it a classic? No
    • 5/5
      Love the notion that the greatest leader is one that defeats the challege before it is known that the challenge exists. Here we are obsessed with the hero leader who battles with the mighty demons and after much struggle wins. I see this in schools where the head turns around a failing school and is seen as a great leader. But all too often they miss the greater leadership of the head who intervenes with a timely word here, a school event there keeps the school on track, Much better to read the straight translations rather then the art of war for the board room which often miss the point
    • 4/5
      My first "android" book :)
      3 days of boring lectures and you complete a whole book !!!!
      A Sun Tzu's masterpiece on competition in a battlefield.An obstinate struggle to survive,to fight with a person's best spirits and a anecdote of survival in tough times. The book talks about various moves of enemies and optimum strategic judgement according to opponent's strength and weakness.
      Main categories under which the comprehensive book is divided are: Laying plans, waging war, strategic attacks, energy, tactical dispositions, army on march, fire attacks and use of spies.
      A book one of its kind. Precise, short statements without any kind of obfuscation, a provident manifestation of a probable war like situation.Indeed, a complete war time reference manual.
    • 4/5
      It's worth reading just to say you have and because so many other books and films refer to it. I first read it in hopes of using it in corporate life but that's not always easy:Camp in high places, facing the sun. Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much for mountain warfare.
    • 3/5
      How ironic that the copy I found in my apartment should have a foreword by James Clavell, author of "Shogun;" my Mum is forever mixing up China and Japan herself, and often remarks about the former when in fact I lived in the latter.The book, meanwhile, is an interesting couple of hours' read, but without a more thorough guide I don't see how I could use Sun Tzu's ideas to conquer Wall Street, as some have proposed.
    • 3/5
      Very fundamental axioms of strategies put forward by an ancient Chinese general. Influential even today not only in military matters but in the business world as well.
    • 4/5
      New to Sun-Tzu, I found invaluable Ames' commentary on the historical times and the 1970s/1980s discovery of a hitherto unknown version of the classic text and related texts.
    • 2/5
      I had to read this for an English class. I'm still trying to figure out why.Maybe I'll be better at strategy games?
    • 5/5
      This turned out to be a cheap and good translation. If all you want is the straight translation, this is a great edition
    • 2/5
      Don't like this edition. The history is boring and confusing (chi, Ch'i, ch'i all mean different things) 1 star for the edition and history part.

      The actual Art of War is good. 3 stars.

    Book preview

    The Art of War - Sun Tsu

    The Art

    of War

    SUN TZU

    TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE

    BY LIONEL GILES

    New York

    The Art of War was originally published in 1910.

    Cover Copyright © 2010 by Cosimo, Inc. Cover Design by www.popshopstudio.com. Cover image © istockphoto.com, #2149228

    ISBN: 978-1-61640-981-4

    For information, visit our website:

    www.cosimobooks.com

    All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able

    to attack we must seem unable; when using our forces,

    we must seem inactive; when we are near, we make

    the enemy believe that we are away; when far away,

    we must make him believe we are near.

    —from Laying Plans

    Table of Contents

    I. LAYING PLANS

    II. WAGING WAR

    III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

    IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

    V. USE OF ENERGY

    VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG

    VII. MANEUVERING AN ARMY

    VIII. VARIATION OF TACTICS

    IX. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH

    X. CLASSIFICATION OF TERRAIN

    XI. THE NINE SITUATIONS

    XII. THE ATTACK BY FIRE

    XIII. THE USE OF SPIES

    I. LAYING PLANS

    Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

    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.

    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.

    These are: The Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, The Commander and Method and Discipline.

    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.

    Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

    Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

    The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

    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.

    These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.

    Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:-

    Seven Searching Questions

    Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?

    Which of the two generals has most ability?

    With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?

    On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

    Which army is stronger?

    On which side are officers and men more highly trained?

    In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

    By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

    The general, who harkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command!

    The general, who harkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat: let such a one

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1