The Art of War [NOOK Book]

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Overview

The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法; pinyin: Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ) is a Chinese military treatise that was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period. (Some scholars believe it was written during the later Warring States period.[1]) Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and still one of the basic texts....
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The Art of War

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Overview

The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法; pinyin: Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ) is a Chinese military treatise that was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period. (Some scholars believe it was written during the later Warring States period.[1]) Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and still one of the basic texts.

The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. It has had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics, and beyond. Sun Tzu suggested the importance of positioning in strategy and that position is affected both by objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective opinions of competitive actors in that environment. He thought that strategy was not planning in the sense of working through an established list, but rather that it requires quick and appropriate responses to changing conditions. Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations.

The book was translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, and into English by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini, and General Douglas MacArthur have claimed to have drawn inspiration from the work. The Art of War has also been applied to business and managerial strategies.
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Product Details

  • BN ID: 2940011842405
  • Publisher: BuyNick, LLC
  • Publication date: 11/25/2010
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Sales rank: 4,468
  • File size: 159 KB

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 937 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(407)

4 Star

(209)

3 Star

(161)

2 Star

(61)

1 Star

(99)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 947 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 12, 2011

    Get it free

    This book and many other classics are free from "Project Gutenburg" on various ebook formats.

    17 out of 22 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 11, 2010

    Review of Sun Tzu

    This concise and compact version of Sun Tzu is printed entirely in a "bullet format" which makes it very readable and enhances the understanding of ancient principles of war that are applicable in everyday life. Mr. Giles has published two versions of Sun Tzu's writings into this single book. The first section is a purist version with no interjections and an additional bonus version that incorporates translations and viewpoints of ancient Chinese masters of war.

    14 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 10, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    so Why so low a rating?

    This is an amazing book, but I don't want people to be deceived, it's dry. The driest martini in the world type of dry, the Sahara looks like a rain forest dry. It is meant to be educational and it is useful for creating your own philosophies and maybe a little bit useful in warfare (still great if you want to wage an ancient war). But not every reader that loves reading will understand why this is great. it is not an escape.

    9 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 7, 2011

    I Also Recommend:

    The Autobiography of Malcolm X
    The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

    Very Interesting

    The first time that I ever heard of Sun Tzu was on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and to be honest I thought Sun Tzu was a fictional character. Turns out that its not, and the Art of War is a very real work. Its a very interesting read, and this book is used by the military, and even in the business world.

    7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 13, 2007

    An excellent masterpiece!

    This is not merely a military or tactical manual - this is a book of pure wisdom. Sun Tzu was way ahead of his time in creating such an extraordinary guide to strategy and leadership, both in and out of combat. Read this book once, then read it again the advice and aphorisms that flow from it are infinite each time.

    7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 13, 2011

    Very poorly formatted

    The Art of War is an excellent book-when it's in a readable format. This is NOT the format to choose.

    6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 31, 2007

    Deadly

    'Its not what you say but how you say it....' In The Art of War Sun Tzu explained how important dicipline must be heard.

    5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 17, 2011

    like the text, hate the formatting

    Very interesting historical text that can be extrapolated to fit many modern contemporary situations, however, I found it hard to read this particular version because the formatting was so poor. The footnotes made the text hard to read and often it was hard to tell where the footnote began and the text resumed.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted June 3, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    A Must Have

    on every bookshelf. Brilliant read.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 28, 2006

    Excellent Book

    This is a book full of wisdom and knowledge in the dealings of war. The concept of war can then be taken from the text and applied to all area of one's life. I have become a stronger individual after reading the book.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 14, 2005

    I love this book!!!

    This an excellent book that I have found myself applying its strategies, tactical dispositions, or whatever you want to call them in both my professional and personal lives. I think everyone should have a copy of this book in their briefcase and/or book bag.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 26, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Steelwolf
    The 48 Laws of Power
    Prince (Mansfield Translation)
    Steelwolf

    A masterpiece of info

    Sun Tzu and his book of knowledge was and is one of the greatest pieces of knowledge man has ever created. From war to the job his strategies are very applicable.

    3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 21, 2010

    Not Just for Planning Battles, But for Living Life As Well

    While originally thought to be a manual for making and winning wars and battles, astute readers and practioners will find Sun Tzu's writing to be a way of living life. The priciaples of war ae there for certain but think, dig deeper and improve your life.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 22, 2001

    A Must-Read

    My hockey team went on a retreat about 9 months ago. We were told that we would be uncofortable. Over the course of a few days, our coach opened up Sun Tzu's work to us. He focused on the Chinese word 'tao', which means 'the way'. Sun Tzu used it to refer to battle, we used it to refer to a battle on the ice rink. We made our own tao and used it throughout the season. This is just one small way the book can relate to other things than war.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 18, 2012

    The art or war

    I knew that the book wuld be realy good but I wasn't expecting it to be this good

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 12, 2012

    Good

    Just confusing but i am also 13

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 27, 2011

    Its just complicated

    I feel like it is imposible to read but yet ver interesting. Its complicated

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 10, 2011

    Timeless Advice, Enjoyable Read

    The Art of War is a military classic, written around 400 BC. However, because the maxims contained in the book are so succinct and universal, this is still a useful book for understanding and waging war today. The central themes are to attack where the enemy is weak, deceive the enemy into attacking you on your terms (not his), and the use of espionage to confuse the enemy while gathering information for your own use.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 26, 2010

    Too much commentary

    While the wisdom of Sun Tzu remains infallible throughout the ages, the commentary of Lionel Giles is asinine, unwanted, and unavoidable in this edition of Art of War. Mixed in with the translation of the original text, Giles' notations are unneeded at best, but are distracting and then irritating most of the time as they disrupt the flow of Sun Tzu's counsel.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 9, 2010

    Written 2500 years ago, but still relevant today!

    I was expecting a difficult read, but this was not the case. The annotations are very helpful and interesting, particularly in putting things into historical perspective. Very relevant to the actions in Afganhistan and Iraq today. Although this is mandatory reading for military academy graduates, you can see from current news stories how the deviation from the principles laid out in this work lead to defeat and unnessary loss of life. Perhaps it should be mandatory reading for our Commanders-in-Chief also! I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the military affairs of our country looking for an understanding of why the current wars proceed as they do. To our civilian leaders, this book says "Let the professionals fight the war! Follow their advice! Set policy, then keep your hands off!" Otherwise, don't get involved!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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