The Art of War: the Oldest Military Treatise in the World

Publisher Marketing: "The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise that is attributed to Sun Tzu, a high ranking military general and strategist of the Kingdom of Wu who was active in the late sixth century BC, during the late Spring and Autumn Period. Some scholars believe that the Art of War was not completed until the subsequent Warring States Period. 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 is still read for its military insights. The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics: 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 military thinking, business tactics, and beyond. Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of positioning in military strategy, and that the decision to position an army must be based on both objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective beliefs of other, 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 condi-tions. Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations." --Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia This version of The Art of War, being The oldest military treatise in the world, has been translated by Lionel Giles. It was compiled by Sander van Geloven and has been published by Sanshinkai Aikido Utrecht. See for more information our website http: //utrecht.sanshinkai.eu Review Citations: Library Journal 07/01/2006 pg. 122 (EAN 9780143037521, Paperback) Publishers Weekly 09/01/2002 (EAN 9780670031566, Hardcover) Library Journal 09/01/2002 (EAN 9780670031566, Hardcover) People Weekly 07/06/2009 pg. 53 (EAN 9780385299855, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Tzu, Sun Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu or Sunzi, was an ancient Chinese military strategist believed to be the author of the acclaimed military text, The Art of War. Details about Sun Tzu's background and life are uncertain, although he is believed to have lived c. 544-496 BCE. Through The Art of War, Sun Tzu's theories and strategies have influenced military leaders and campaigns throughout time, including the samurai of ancient and early-modern Japan, and more recently Ho Chi Minh of the Viet Cong and American generals Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s. Contributor Bio:  Giles, Lionel Lionel Giles used the Wade-Giles Romanization method of translation, pioneered by his father, Herbert Giles. Like many Victorian-era sinologists, he was primarily interested in Chinese literature, which Victorians approached as a branch of classics. Victorian sinologists contributed greatly to problems of textual transmission of the classics. The following quote shows Giles' attitude to the problem identifying the authors of ancient works like the Lieh Tzu, the Chuang Tzu and the Tao Te Ching: The extent of the actual mischief done by this "Burning of the Books " has been greatly exaggerated. Still, the mere attempt at such a holocaust gave a fine chance to the scholars of the later Han dynasty (A. D. 25-221), who seem to have enjoyed nothing so much as forging, if not the whole, at any rate portions, of the works of ancient authors. Some one even produced a treatise under the name of Lieh Tzu, a philosopher mentioned by Chuang Tzu, not seeing that the individual in question was a creation of Chuang Tzu's brain! Continuing to produce translations of Chinese classics well into the later part of his life, he confessed to a friend that he was a "Taoist at heart, and I can well believe it, since he was fond of a quiet life, and was free of that extreme form of combative scholarship which seems to be the hall mark of most Sinologists."