The Ancient Classics Collection: The Art of War & Tao Te Ching

by Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Tom Butler-Bowdon

The Art of War
By Sun Tzu, Translated by Lionel Giles.

The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world.Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of positioning in military strategy.

Tao Te Ching
By Lao Tzu, Translated by James Legge.

Tao Te Ching was written around the sixth century BCE by the sage Lao Tzu. It is fundamental to Philosophical Taoism.

Specially formatted for the Amazon Kindle, with easy navigation table of contents, and adjustable font size.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

418 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2011

About the author

Sun Tzu (traditional Chinese: 孫子; simplified Chinese: 孙子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thought. Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a legendary historical and military figure. His birth name was Sun Wu (traditional Chinese: 孫武; simplified Chinese: 孙武) and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing (Chinese: 長卿). The name Sun Tzu—by which he is more popularly known—is an honorific which means "Master Sun".
Sun Tzu mastered the military science of ancient China and created the military doctrine of asymmetrical warfare. According to it, an attack on the enemy should begin only after the enemy has no opportunity to either defend or counterattack. It was used in the wars in the era of the Warring States in ancient China (about 475–221 BC). It differs from the modern interpretation of asymmetric military strategy. The ancient warriors used to call it the Victorious Methods of Warfare (sheng er zhan zhi), but it has the same meaning as the modern asymmetrical military strategy. The ancient professional warriors used it in individual combats against the enemies in the wars. As a result, a variety of armed and unarmed combat combinations have been created for various combat situations as the individual battle plans. Those combat combinations had specific names, descriptions and classifications.
Sun Tzu's historicity is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. Modern scholars accepting his historicity place the extant text of The Art of War in the later Warring States period of 475 to 221 BC, based on its style of composition and its descriptions of warfare. Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled The Art of War. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as "Sun Tzu" in classical Chinese texts, some historians believed them identical, prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972.
Sun Tzu's work has been praised and employed throughout the arc of East Asian military history since its composition, and eventually earned global attention. During the twentieth century, The Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in the Western world as well. It remains influential in many contemporary competitive endeavors across the modern world beyond military strategy and warfare, including espionage, culture, governance, business, and sports.

Reviews

[Mark Gowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Art of War is a classic text on the "art" of battle written around 150 BC to 100 AD. What keeps this book in the realm of 'classics' is the fact that it can be applied (and is) to modern warfare whether that is on the field, in the workplace, or at home; it is primarily a book that can be applied to the art of politics. A similar book, though a bit more forceful in its approach is Machiavelli's "The Prince". I think that the Art of War is a more applicable in a pragmatic, but yet still honest way while Machiavelli's work makes no qualms about deception.

Sun Tzu's philosophy is primarily based upon Confucius' philosophy (based in the concept that is called 'virtue' by Aristotle). It is for this reason that the book is as applicable today as it was when it was first written. Lionel Gile's edition offers a straight-forward, easy to read version, but I would recommend reading the book in its different editions as translations differ.

The Art of War could easily be the basis of our politics, whether that is between friends, family, work, or country.

[Shawna Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see all the related examples and footnotes explaining the translation difficulties. I recognized a lot of famous quotes "know they enemy" and learned a lot about strategy. Main my take-away was to always have good supplies and avoid certain terrain (rivers, hills, etc.) I may look for a more concise version, but this was interesting because of all the "modern" examples - Napoleon, Ladybird.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Art of War" was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I actually found it rather fascinating. A lot of the principles seem applicable to business as well. The version that I read had imbedded notes by the British translator that were often quite helpful to better understand the concepts being expressed.

[Travis Shepard · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best translations of The Art of War that I have ever read.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

hooray audiobooks!

[Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Interesting sights into Chinese thought and culture. Not life changing for me, although I have heard that businessmen have used it for something or other.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was not an easy read but it was definitely worth it!

[Jose]

Great

[Tsey Peday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Art of War
Author: Sun Tzu
Publisher: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

The essays by Sun Tzu are more than 2500 years old, and still quite popular amongst politicians and leaders. The book is translated from Chinese by Lionel Giles, and has less than a hundred pages, making it a quick read.

Sun Tzu is definitely an expert on warfare. Reading about his strategies and tactics a general must use from laying plans to attacking, maneuvering and even using of spies, I wished if was alive now. He definitely would have become a great leader, an expert at negotiations, conflict management and strategist in any field, that we could all learn from!

I say this because his 2500 plus year old theories are still applicable today, more than to the army, it is relevant to our daily lives, the everyday challenges we face in business and as individuals!

[Mark Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on Strategy.

[Wietse Van den bos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Klassieker, niet echt een boek maar meer een boek met quotes. Vooral interessant omdat zoveel mensen het interessant vinden. Zou het drie sterren geven, maar ik vond dit intro irritant