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Sun Tzu
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The Art Of War Paperback – November 1, 2007

by Sun Tzu (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 12,974 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Military Strategy History
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Note: The chapters in the book are not in order and it is intentional.
This edition approved by the Holden-Crowther Organisation for Asian Studies.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    68 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Filiquarian
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2007
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.25 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1599869772
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1599869773
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A decent version of Art of War. Read the eBook version, too, by AIOS Publishing: ASIN : B08Q68NYL2

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From the Author

Sun Tzu

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Filiquarian; First Thus edition (November 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 68 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1599869772
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1599869773
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 12,974 ratings

About the author

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu

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Sun Tzu is thought to have been a military general and adviser to the king of the southern Chinese state of Wu during the sixth century BCE. Although some modern scholars have called his authorship into doubt, the world's most influential and enduring treatise on military strategy, The Art of War, bears his name.

Sun Tzu fue un general, estratega militar y filósofo de la antigua China. El nombre por el que lo conocemos es en realidad un título honorífico que significa «Maestro Sun». Su nombre de nacimiento era Sun Wu y fuera de su familia era conocido por su nombre de cortesía, Changqing. Tradicionalmente se le considera el autor de El arte de la guerra, un influyente tratado sobre estrategia militar. Sun Tzu ha tenido un impacto significativo en la historia y culturas china y asiática, tanto por escribir El arte de la guerra como por ser una figura histórica legendaria.

Históricamente se le sitúa en el período de las Primaveras y Otoños de China (722-481 a. C.) como general militar al servicio del rey Helü de Wu, que vivió c. 544-496 a. C. Los estudiosos modernos aceptan su lugar histórico al situar la creación de El arte de la guerra en el período de los Reinos Combatientes (476-221 a. C.) con base en las descripciones militares del texto y a la similitud de su prosa con la de otros trabajos creados a comienzos de la etapa de los Reinos Combatientes.

La Editorial Alvi Books le dedicó, como tributo y reconocimiento, este espacio en Amazon en 2017.

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Top reviews from the United States

Cole McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Classic
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
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This classic instructional and influential book taught me everything I needed to know! Product was very nice as well!
2 people found this helpful
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mccb
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply a MUST READ
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024
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For business, social situations, and anything that requires negotiation with power, this book is a MUST READ. Simple, clear and concise, Sun Tzu was far ahead of his time and his thoughts laid out on these pages bring his genius thoughts to an understandable level of clarity for us mere mortals.
3 people found this helpful
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King Matthew Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024
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A classic book and a must read
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Tee
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024
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Very interesting and informative.
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Jessikj
5.0 out of 5 stars IF YOU ARE A LEADER OR MANAGER OF ANY KIND, READ THIS BOOK!
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2021
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-If you have inconsistent or poor performances on your team, you NEED to read this book!
-If you are the type of leader that is "too nice" and you feel like your employees take advantage of you, you NEED to read this book!
-If your employees are terrified of you, you NEED to read this book!

This is how this book changed my life:

My first big promotion was getting the General Manager position of a restaurant at 21 years old, and I did everything I could to make my employees happy (bringing the principals from "First Break All the Rules- What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" which is also imperative to help you measure and understand how to make an amazing work environment for your employees), and it worked wonders- at first. My employees were happy and my customer reviews sky rocketed!!

However, over time some employees started to push the lines of respect with me and others, and some just started to outright ignore me or give me attitude. I was devastated! How could they treat me disrespectfully after I had spent months bending over backwards finding out and giving them everything they needed to be happy at work??? I praised them tirelessly, I thanked them constantly, I encouraged them, I personally trained them, I got them equipment and supplies they need to do a good job, I was spending one-on-one time with each of them would ask how their lives were, etc! I was the "nicest boss...." who was also turning out to be a pushover.

You can have all the kindness in the world but it makes your team useless if you have no discipline at the same time! The Bible says God disciplines His children BECAUSE He loves us. Otherwise, we turn into monsters! Which is what I was beginning to experience with my team.

I HAD NO DISCIPLINE, and NEITHER DID MY TEAM. Why would they respect me? I thought discipline was bad- "punishment" you gave and "punishment" was mean. Nope... turns out every team needs it, and if you are CONSISTENTLY and FAIRLY giving predictable and fore-warned discipline all the time, along with kindness, which Sun Tzu talks about in the book as well, you will have an amazing team. This is my favorite quote from the book that finally turned the light bulb on for me:

Page 26 #42-45:

"If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.
Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.
If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.
If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual."

AND YES IT WAS! Over time, not only did my employees love coming into work EVEN MORE, but they worked harder, my customers were happier, and so was I. People are comforted to know their boss will always be kind AND fair. If you never know how your boss will treat you, it creates uncertainty and anxiety with the team that always leaks out to the customers.

It took me only a couple weeks to begin fully implementing this mindset with my employees. At first, I'm not going to lie- it shocked them a bit and they didn't believe when me I would tell them I would be disciplining them if they didn't follow through or finish a direct order I had given them. I had to fire one manager who was undermining me to the team, and then everyone saw I was serious and fell right into line. Of course, I did all of this will extreme kindness.

Discipline should never be nasty or hateful or done when you are fuming angry. The employees need kind, proper and consistent warnings before they receive any consequences (which I learned to start doing right from onboarding them at orientation- saved me a lot of time and trouble), and then if and when the time comes for the formal discipline, they know by then that it was totally their choice, and you are only following through on what you said would happen.

There are SO MANY MORE GREAT QUOTES in this book. Just get it. Get a highlighter and pick out the diamonds that you need. Go over them time and again and become the amazing leader of your life and of your team you are meant to be!
175 people found this helpful
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dennis farranto
5.0 out of 5 stars everybody should read it.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
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everybody should read it.
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Pat Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars Things we need think about before the war.
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024
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Was fun to read and informative.
One person found this helpful
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William J. Bahr
3.0 out of 5 stars But what did Sun Tzu mean?
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2023
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If you have questions about what exactly Sun Tzu (Wu) meant when he wrote something in his “Art of War,” you’ll often not find it in this book. True, as best I can tell, these are the words of Sun Tzu, as translated and edited by the renowned Lionel Giles in 1910. However, the book is stripped of Giles’ lengthy introduction, notes, sources, etc., which go to make his full book easily many times larger than the stripped-down version you’ll find here. Don’t believe me? Check out the online Giles versions downloadable for free. Other translations, most with valuable introductions, notes, and forewards (one by the famous military strategist Liddell Hart) include those by Griffith (1963), Cleary (1988), Clavell (1983-89), Gagliardi (1999), Minford (2002), Harris (2018), and several others.

So, why did I buy this book? I had been looking for an inexpensive print copy of “The Art of War,” and Amazon mentioned this version when I bought a related strategy book as “Frequently bought together.” Other print versions were two, three, four, and more times as expensive. This print book is priced more along the lines of what the other translations charge for Kindle copies. So, through a combination of “good” advertising, luck, or a fluke of Amazon “The Art of War” title aggregation (currently 12,078 ratings with 448,977 ratings on Goodreads for presumably all versions), this version of “The Art of War” is ranked at the moment as Amazon book #344. Also helping persuade me was the book description that said, “This edition approved by the Holden-Crowther Organisation for Asian Studies.” Unfortunately, other than the organization’s name being attached to this book, I can now find nothing else about it.

As a sample of the differences between Giles' stripped-out and versions of his translation, note in the two examples below the difference between just Sun Tzu’s words in quotes and what is appended to the quoted material in the brackets:

III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM
4. …“the preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months;”
[It is not quite clear what the Chinese word, here translated as “mantlets”, described. Ts`ao Kung simply defines them as “large shields,” but we get a better idea of them from Li Ch`uan, who says they were to protect the heads of those who were assaulting the city walls at close quarters. This seems to suggest a sort of Roman TESTUDO, ready made. Tu Mu says they were wheeled vehicles used in repelling attacks, but this is denied by Ch`en Hao. See supra II. 14. The name is also applied to turrets on city walls. Of the “movable shelters” we get a fairly clear description from several commentators. They were wooden missile-proof structures on four wheels, propelled from within, covered over with raw hides, and used in sieges to convey parties of men to and from the walls, for the purpose of filling up the encircling moat with earth. Tu Mu adds that they are now called “wooden donkeys.”]

IV Tactical Dispositions
10. “To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;…”
[“Autumn” hair” is explained as the fur of a hare, which is finest in autumn, when it begins to grow afresh. The phrase is a very common one in Chinese writers.]

General Comment: As a result of stripping out the commentary and leaving just Sun Tzu’s quotes, the book of 68 numbered pages has 10 that are totally blank so that following sections can begin on odd-numbered pages. These blank pages could have been used to explain why the publisher found it necessary to put section nine out of the original order, moving it up to right after section four. For as many reasons I can think to move it, I find the same number of reasons to let it stay. Humbly, I say, “If the honorable Sun Tzu put his sections in a particular order, I’ll respect his choice.” Still not content with Lionel Giles’ translation, the publishers have introduced a couple of typos. The book, however, does include all of Sun Tzu’s advice in his own words, so you’re definitely not getting a “CliffsNotes” version. And, I believe that any ascription of the translation to James Clavell is incorrect. He wrote a foreward, edits, and notes to the book, but I believe he used Giles’ translation.

Bottom-line, with this printed book, you will get a fair translation of Sun Tzu’s work (Giles’ 1910 translation is in the public domain). However, IMHO, you’ll often not get the full meaning, and thus wisdom, of Sun Tzu’s thoughts. If that's important to you, you may want to look elsewhere. Live and learn: always “Look inside” when you can!

Of possible interest for those interested in strategy, here’s a book on winning strategies used throughout history by 87 master strategists (includes an overview of Sun Tzu):  Strategic Advantage: How to Win in War, Business, and Life
55 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading people whos trying to by the real/full book
Reviewed in Spain on March 8, 2024
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This is not the art of war this is a list of bullet points and very hard to read
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userintokyo
5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of War 感想
Reviewed in Japan on May 10, 2011
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他の翻訳者の方の英訳本も機会があれば読み比べてみたいです。改めて自戒させられます。
3 people found this helpful
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ama zone
2.0 out of 5 stars Decepcionante
Reviewed in Spain on January 4, 2019
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El libro son parrafos sueltos sin ningun tipo de analisis añadido y no demasiado bien estructurados. Como si alguien hubiera juntado los apuntes en un panfleto tipo chuleta la noche antes de un examen. Bastante pauperrimo, aunque el precio esté bien, yo no lo recomendaria.
4 people found this helpful
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