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Imserba Webstore - The Art of War: Sun Zi's Military Methods (Translations from the Asian Classics)
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $13.57
Your Save: $ 6.38 ( 32% )
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Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.02
EAN: 9780231133821
Feature: ISBN13: 9780231133821
ISBN: 0231133820
Label: Columbia University Press
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2007-10-15
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Release Date: 2007-12-15
Studio: Columbia University Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Compiled during the Warring States period of 475-221 B.C.E., The Art of War has had an enormous impact on the development of Chinese military strategy over the past two thousand years and occupies an important place in East Asian intellectual history. It is the first known attempt to formulate a rational basis for the planning and conduct of military operations, and while numerous editions of the work exist, Victor Mair's translation is the first to remain true to the original structure and essential style of the text. Mair's fidelity to the original, along with his insightful commentary and reliance on archaeologically recovered manuscripts, breaks new ground in solving The Art of War's difficult textual and contextual problems. He confronts complex questions concerning the authorship of the work, asserting that Sun Wu, a supposed strategist of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.E.) to whom the text is traditionally attributed, never existed. Instead, Mair claims that The Art of War coalesced over a period of around seventy-five years, from the middle of the fourth century to the first quarter of the third century B.C.E. Mair also reveals the way The Art of War reflects historical developments in technological and military strategy in civilizations throughout Eurasia, especially in regards to iron metallurgy. He demonstrates the close link between the philosophy in The Art of War and Taoism and discusses the reception of the text from the classical period to today. Finally, Mair highlights previously unaddressed stylistic and statistical aspects and includes philological annotations that present new ways of approaching the intellectual and social background of the work. A phenomenal achievement, Mair's comprehensive translation is an indispensable resource for today's students, strategists, and scholars.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: An interesting analysis of war
Comment: I have been wanting to read Sun Tszu's treatise for a long time but had never gotten around to it.
It consists of short paragraphs of his writings and many comentaries and arguments regarding them.
It isn't something you can read in one go. At times it gets tedious reading the conflicting comments.
Because it was written long ago and has been rewritten and translated many times it has lost coherance in places. Still there is much of value and I wish that Bush and Rumsfeld had taken heed of it before getting
us involved in Iraq.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A terrific book
Comment: A well-known writer friend strongly recommended this book to me and, knowing very little about the subject, I read it on a plane trip to southeast asia. I was entranced from start to finish. It is a work a great nuance and amazing writing. Buy it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the most important military books in history
Comment: The Warring States period Warring States Period 475-221 BCE is a history of constant warfare, of alliances and counter-alliances, and of treaties made and broken. The nature of warfare evolved during the period. During the Warring States period, political stability was impossible to gain by adventurous military action. With the advent of swelling ranks of soldiers, protracted sieges, and an ever increasing drain on state treasuries, warfare became a serious matter for study.
Thus, the opening remark of "The Art Of War" states--without exaggeration--war had become the most serious business of the state, the key to survival or ruin. The author of this and other pithy aphorisms on how to successfully fight a war was Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu scholars place his writing "The Art of War" in the Warring States Period, based on the descriptions of warfare in the text. The book has received great exposure in the west starting in the eighteenth century after being translated by a French missionary. It has been reported that Napoleon studied the text and effectively put many of its teachings to good use. For the past 2,000 years, it has been the most important military treatise in all of Asia, even known by name with the common people. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese military figures have studied it and employed its concepts to good effect. This is especially evident in the military tactics of 20th century revolutionaries like Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh.
The book is comprised of 13 chapters. The thesis of Sun's work is one should employ an army after a thorough analysis mandated by careful planning and the formulation of an overall strategy before embarking on a campaign. Sun emphasizes rational self-control, influenced by Daoist teachings throughout the book.
Chap 1-Laying Plans
18. All warfare is based on deception. 19. 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.
Chap 6-Weak Points And Strong
8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.
The best translation is the Samuel B. Griffith edition
Customer Rating:
Summary: A book that helped shape the world
Comment: One of the oldest and probably one of the most historically relevant books on warfare, The Art of War, was a huge influence on shaping the Eastern world. The philosophy taught is the positioning of soldiers and how to react quickly to the changing environments of the battlefield -- where, of course, the uncertainty of combat requires a soldier to not only make quick decisions, but the right counter strike. Fail, and you may lose your life. Too many mistakes, and you may lose the war. The book is divided into 13 chapters and depending on the translation gives the names. I will use the most common translation to list the chapters:
I. Laying Plans
II. Waging War
III. Attack by Stratagem
IV. Tactical Dispositions
V. Energy
VI. Weak Points and Strong
VII. Maneuvering
VIII. Variation of Tactics
IX. The Army on the March
X. Terrain
XI. The Nine Situations
XII. The Attack by Fire
XIII. The Use of Spies
Chapter I: Is about the fundamentals and planning of war: the way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management
Chapter II: The cost effectiveness of war.
Chapter III: Explains how the strength of the phalanx is unity
Chapter IV: Explains that defending the troop's position is crucial
Chapter V: Building momentum
Chapter VI: Take advantage of your opponent's weakness
Chapter VII: Avoid direct contact
Chapter VIII: Flexibility in your counter attack
Chapter IX: evaluating the intentions of others.
Chapter X: There are three general areas of resistance: distance, dangers, and barriers, and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offer certain advantages and disadvantages.
Chapter XI: Describe nine common situations in a campaign
Chapter XII: It examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attack.
Chapter XIII: The importance of developing good information sources
This book has so much cultural relevance that anything I write won't give it the praise it is due...or describe just how important it was in shaping modern warfare. So, all I can say is just read it and find out for yourself what all the fuss is about.
Customer Rating:
Summary: mixed commentary/text makes this an awful edition
Comment: All I want to do is read the Art of War, but this edition mixes the commentary with the text, which makes reading on the Kindle really difficult. In a real book, the commentary is at the bottom and you can ignore it. On this, it's all mixed in and makes it nearly impossible to read. I'm deleting it.
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