Publisher's Synopsis
"Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory."
The Art of War
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician, and it was believed to have been compiled during the late Spring and Autumn period or early Warring States period. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond. About this edition of the translation of The Art of War This official edition of The Art of War is the unaltered, uncommented, edited text as written by Sun Tzu in the translation of Lionel Giles, first published in 1910. Giles original translation of the art of war includes commentaries and historical asides that have been removed for clarity and readability. The intention of this version is to create an Art of War similar to what the famed Thirteen Letters from Sun Tzu would have read like without modern alterations. It is the most concise, definitive, unabridged and original version. Famous quotes from this edition of The Art of War "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.""The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.""If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.""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 must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. " About the Author Sun Tzu (544 B.C.-496 B.C.) was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty, who has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of The Art of War as well as through legend. Lao-Tzu was a philosopher and poet of ancient China who lived in the fifth century BC. He is known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of philosophical Taoism. "The Art of War makes immediately relevant one of the greatest Chinese classical texts. There's not a dated maxim or vague prescription in it. 'To win without fighting is best, ' Sun Tzu said. For him, war was coeval with life. Absorb this book, and you can throw out all those contemporary books about management leadership."-- Newsweek
