Gran Leon Books - The Art of War

Manufacturer: Tantor Media

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9781400100675
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 1400100674
Label: Tantor Media
Manufacturer: Tantor Media
Number Of Items: 2
Publication Date: 2002-12-15
Publisher: Tantor Media
Studio: Tantor Media

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The Prince (Bantam Classics) The Communist Manifesto (Penguin Classics) The Book of Five Rings On War (Oxford World's Classics) The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics)

Editorial Reviews:

Unabridged Audiobook. 2 CDs - 2 hours, 8 minutes. Narrated by Scott Brick & Shelly Frasier

"All warfare is based on deception. Thus, when able to attack, we must seem unable. Hold out bait to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is quick to anger, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."

Written before Alexander the Great was born, this Chinese treatise on war has become one of the most influential works on the subject. Read widely in the east since its appearance 2500 years ago, The Art of War first came to the west with a French Jesuit in1782. It has been studied by generals from Napoleon to Rommel and it is still required reading in most military academies of the world.

Although it was meant to be a practical guide to warfare in the age of chariots, many corporate and government leaders have successfully applied its lessons to battles in the modern dog-eat-dog world. Sun Tzu covers all aspects of war in his time, from strategy and tactics to the proper use of terrain and spies. In this version, Sun Tzu's lessons are brought to life with commentaries from ancient Chinese history, which illustrate both the philosophy and the principles of his teachings.

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Best Traslation I got in many years!!
Comment: 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.

Customer Rating:

Summary: For Statesmen and Military Commanders
Comment: 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.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Overhyped book
Comment: 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.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Art of War
Comment: 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.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Less utility than later works.
Comment: 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 and militaristic writings to enhance executive stature, look at The Prince.

(2)If you want to read up on more contemporary attempts at codifying war relations, particularly in the state system, try On War by Clausewitz. An inexpensive book with many of the highlights of On War is printed by Sweet Water Press (2006). That would be a natural place to start if you want to work with the original text.

(3) The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, written 400+ years ago, provides a very good account of inner and outer struggle in the samurai tradition. More substance in this than in Art of War. My mind goes to some of the things in Five Rings while dealing with personal relationships.

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