Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.02
EAN: 9780195015409
ISBN: 0195015401
Label: Oxford University Press
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: January 01, 1963
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Studio: Oxford University Press
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
The Art of War is the Swiss army knife of military theory--pop out a different tool for any situation. Folded into this small package are compact views on resourcefulness, momentum, cunning, the profit motive, flexibility, integrity, secrecy, speed, positioning, surprise, deception, manipulation, responsibility, and practicality. Thomas Cleary's translation keeps the package tight, with crisp language and short sections. Commentaries from the Chinese tradition trail Sun-tzu's words, elaborating and picking up on puzzling lines. Take the solitary passage: "Do not eat food for their soldiers." Elsewhere, Sun-tzu has told us to plunder the enemy's stores, but now we're not supposed to eat the food? The Tang dynasty commentator Du Mu solves the puzzle nicely, "If the enemy suddenly abandons their food supplies, they should be tested first before eating, lest they be poisoned." Most passages, however, are the pinnacle of succinct clarity: "Lure them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion" or "Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability is in the opponent." Sun-tzu's maxims are widely applicable beyond the military because they speak directly to the exigencies of survival. Your new tools will serve you well, but don't flaunt them. Remember Sun-tzu's advice: "Though effective, appear to be ineffective." --Brian Bruya
Product Description:
Written in China more than 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu's classic The Art of War is the first known study of the planning and conduct of military operations. These terse, aphoristic essays are unsurpassed in comprehensiveness and depth of understanding, examining not only battlefield maneuvers, but also relevant economic, political, and psychological factors. Indeed, the precepts outlined by Sun Tzu can be applied outside the realm of military theory. It is read avidly by Japanese businessmen and in fact was touted in the movie Wall Street as the corporate raider's bible.
In addition to an excellent translation of Sun Tzu's text, Samuel Griffith also provides commentaries written by Chinese strategists, plus several thought-provoking essays on topics such as the influence of Sun Tzu on Mao Tse-tung and on Japanese military thought, the nature of warfare in Sun Tzu's time, and the life of Sun Tzu and other important commentators. Remarkable for its clear organization, lucid prose, and the acuity of its intelletual and moral insights, The Art of War is the definitive study of combat.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
The permanent and global chinese military theory from a classical author. Its style and content characteristics support the idea of one unique author. It is of very easy reading and very long full comprehension. It is like to be defoliating an artichoke or an onion. With each useful reading, more shades and perspectives are caught. That come to fruition in major richness, reading pleasure, agility and depth of thought.
Other "Chinese" books give you a number of strategies (the 33, the 36, the 100, etc.). Its utilization is based on its constant memorization or on its permanent application. I consider them to be slight practical, for the profuse, diffuse and still confused character of many ancient authors of the Han etnia. What does happen if a different case, that is not in your supposed check list, arises? It seems as if they wanted to conceal their supposed wisdom from the not initiated ones.
Rating:  -
This edition of Sun Tzu's Art of War is noteworthy for several reasons. The book was translated and edited by U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Griffith, who served in China and fought the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. General Griffith provides useful annotations, while pointing out inconsistencies and uncertainties in the text. For this edition, he wrote sections on the influence of Sun Tzu on the Japanese and Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. As a bonus, this edition includes a later (and shorter) Art of War written by Wu Chi.
Rating:  -
This book is overhyped. The "knowledge" tidbits are sometimes conflicting with each other. The book does have some common sense knowledge but there are lots of other ways to learn that information in straightforward then to go through the hard read. At the same time, the book is very thin. One could read it in a short amount of time and get the bragging rights to have read this book.
Pick your choice.
Rating: -
I truly enjoyed this book. It is unlike any book I have ever read. But I found so many relevancies to my career, my journeys competing in pageant (which is a war within itself) and my life. When I heard it referenced by our President elect, while I was reading it, I knew I was right up there with the world's leaders. I recommend everyone from teens to adults read this book.
Rating: -
The Art of War is overrated in relation to more recent works, notably The Prince, On War, and The Book of Five Rings, and many Roman and Greek texts could be mentioned, for differing reasons.
The Prince was written during the tumult of the cultural and linguistic formation of early Italy (as opposed to the distinctive Roman society before it). This makes it, in my humble view, more valuable than Art of War and comparable Roman texts because the personality of the time period is closer to ours, and there isn't such a problem with translating concepts.
Indeed, there is significant evidence that there was no Sun Tzu and that The Art of War is an amalgamation of the knowledge of more recent (within the past 2-3,000 years) Chinese militar officers and/or philosophers. This possible fact breaks down the continuity of the book, if one can sense much continuity to begin with.
In short, (1)if you're looking to feel naughty by reading demonized and selfish ... Read More
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