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Art of War
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Art of War
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Art of War
Audiobook1 hour

Art of War

Written by Sun Tzu

Narrated by Dave Heath

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

It is not too often one can read or listen to a 2600 year-old book and know that it still has relevance and importance today. The Art of War has long been considered not only a military classic, but a classic book in general. Sun Tzu's treatise on various aspects and components of wartime strategy is highly recommended for insight into the Eastern mindset and military planning. It also can apply to business, legal and educational situations as well.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2010
ISBN9781683660811
Author

Sun Tzu

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.

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Reviews for Art of War

Rating: 3.841009976493012 out of 5 stars
4/5

3,148 ratings78 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Vapid martial homilies.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A very quick read of a classic. I had always been meaning to get around to this book, and I did not realize how short it was. The version I have contains more commentary than the actual writing, and I did not bother with the commentary.

    The book is basically a series of maxims that describe how to lead as a general at war. I think its appeal is universal, and many of the ideas can be applied as strategic thinking in other aspects of life. I don't think it was all that profound, but then again, its ideas have been used for centuries. It was nice to be able to read where a lot of them came from.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Indeholder "Making of Plans", "Waging of War", "Strategic Offensive", "Forms and Dispositions", "Potential Energy", "Empty and Full", "The Fray", "The Nine Changes", "On the March", "Forms of Terrain", "The Nine Kinds of Ground", "Attack by Fire", "Espionage"."Making of Plans" handler om ???"Waging of War" handler om ???"Strategic Offensive" handler om ???"Forms and Dispositions" handler om ???"Potential Energy" handler om ???"Empty and Full" handler om ???"The Fray" handler om ???"The Nine Changes" handler om ???"On the March" handler om ???"Forms of Terrain" handler om ???"The Nine Kinds of Ground" handler om ???"Attack by Fire" handler om ???"Espionage" handler om ???En glimrende klassiker om krig. Sun-tzu ved hvor ødelæggende krig er, så han foretrækker at undgå den.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A great translation. That was meant to be funny since I don't read Chinese and can't possibly really know how good his translation is. However, this is a great book and belongs right next to your other war strategy greats.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally here.)The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write essays on whether or not they deserve the label. The Art of War is essay #27 of this series.The story in a nutshell:More of a technical manual than a piece of general literature, The Art of War is a field guide of sorts by famed Chinese military leader Sun Tzu, written it's believed sometime in the 6th century BC (during the period when China was coming together as a unified empire for the first time in history), as a way of instructing other commanders how to have as much success on the battlefield as he had had. (And please know that there's a debate among scholars as well regarding whether Sun Tzu even wrote this book by himself, or if like many other classics from antiquity this isn't in fact a sly compilation, gathering up the best thoughts back then from amongst a whole group of military strategists.) Now of course let's not forget that Sun Tzu was a Taoist as well, so of course his particular advice is going to be Taoist in nature, a very important thing to understand in order to really "get" this book; he sees the best war, for example, as the one that's never actually fought, because you've already dismantled the enemy's forces through sabotage and cunning to the point where they can't put up a resistance in the first place. And so it is throughout this extremely slim book (which in fact is more like a long magazine article) -- chapter after chapter of surprisingly spiritual text concerning the fine art of getting what you want, even when other people are actively trying to stop you from doing so.The argument for it being a classic:It's a 2,500-year-old book still being read and studied on a daily basis, argue its fans; what more do you want? And in the meanwhile, it's influenced nearly every Western military leader since first being translated into a Romantic language (French) in 1782, racking up a whole list of self-declared admirers from Napoleon to Norman Schwarzkopf. And if this weren't enough, starting in the 1980s it also gained a whole new life as a surprisingly apt if not Machiavellian guide to the corporate business world, best typified by symbol-of-yuppie-greed Gordon Gekko from Oliver Stone's fantastic movie Wall Street, who is constantly walking around quoting from it as a way to justify his monstrous, inhuman actions. If all of this isn't enough to safely consider a book a classic, ask its fans, what is?The argument against:The case against this being a classic seems to be one used a lot with books over a thousand years old; that even if that book turns out to be historically important (and it usually does), it might be better at this point to actually study the book and how it affected society, not read the book itself for pleasure anymore. Always remember, that's part of how I'm defining "classic" here in this CCLaP 100 series, is not just how important that title has been to human history, but also whether it's worth literally sitting down and reading it page-for-page yourself, no matter if you have any specific interest in that book's subject or not. If it's yes on the former but no on the latter, as critics of this book claim, then by my definition it's not a classic, but rather simply a historically important book that should be studied by the general public but not necessarily read.My verdict:So let me start by admitting how surprisingly readable this is for being 2,500 years old, and that it really does translate metaphorically to the business world surprisingly elegantly; after all, since it's a guide to war written by a Taoist, it's more of a symbolic examination of how to get out of life what you want the most, even in the face of tough opposition, with advice that is surprisingly relevant to the modern world even when he's talking about the mechanics of medieval Asian warfare. (Just for one example, near the beginning he talks in one paragraph about how a successful commander will literally steal the food of their enemy, both to sap the enemy's strength and to avoid the burden of having to carry all that food to battle themselves; this may not seem to have much relevance to the modern business world at first, until you stop and think about it in terms of stealing talent from your competitors, literally the intellectual "food" nourishing their "army" of goods and services competing against your own.)That said, though, I think ultimately I'm going to have to side with the critics this time; that unless you're a military commander or corporate raider yourself, most people's eyes are going to quickly gloss over while trying to read this book, merely after the first few pages. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely think this should be a primer for people who are getting into the profession themselves; this should for sure be a must-read not only for soldiers, for example, but also the politicians in charge of those soldiers' budgets. But this is a perfect example of the surprisingly complicated process of determining whether a book is a classic or not, the entire reason I started this essay series in the first place; because unless competitive strategy actually is your business, most people will find it more rewarding to spend their time reading up on how this book has affected history, and of the circumstances in ancient China that led to it getting written in the first place. There's really only one major lesson in The Art of War for a non-military general audience to get -- that most battles are won based on how well one can surprise the enemy, usually by deceiving them using their own weaknesses (to act incompetent when the enemy is haughty, for example, threatening when they're meek, picking them off at the edges when they outnumber you, destroying their supply lines when they're far from home); for those not interested in the nitty-gritty of how to actually accomplish such things, though, there's actually a lot more to be learned by studying how such a thing has been attempted over the centuries, making the book certainly important but not necessarily a classic.Is it a classic? No
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A classic! Well worth the read, and looking forward to reading again in the future.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a manual and reads like one. Better to take in very small doses, digest and discuss rather than to read continuously.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Pretty dull going, even by audiobook. The narrators were great, though, and there were times that the footnotes saved me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Absolutely essential book to anyone's library. Can be read over and over again; it has a somewhat poetic style and it's an interesting insight, very inspirational.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tactics and strategies that apply to everyday life. This book is excellent reading to make you think about how to deal with the day to day struggles of life. It helps you position you versus your opponent. Your opponent need not be any one person. It could be a corporation. It could be an establishment. It could be a situation you are facing. I was once told that what you get out of a book is the effort you put into a book. It is my hope that this book can help someone master how they deal with day to day life. Let me know what you think. By the way, how many Enron or Worldcomm employees do you think read this book?

    On another note, I would ask that you do not take this book literally. It is laced with allegory and a ton of symbolism. Please take its contents and apply them to your life for the good of all.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read the 1910 translation by Lionel Giles, available for free on the internet. This edition was complemented with notes offering commentary by a wide range of Chinese near-contemporaries who offered their examples, corollaries, etc. The translator added further illumination throughout which added considerably to what I gleaned. What Sun Tzu seems to offer is the codifying of common sense, but that's easy for me to say. He covers all of his bases thoroughly in his opening chapter, outlining categories of consideration and then throwing in a paragraph noting that other considerations may also come into play, every battle is different, etc. Cynically, I feel this makes it easier to take a stand as the ultimate authority: "The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it will conquer."Sun Tzu is silent on the topic of avoiding war altogether (notwithstanding his advice to conquer without combat), as if the first diplomacy he prefers to resort to is raising an army. He also hasn't much to say about keeping an army supplied, only its necessity. His advice is entirely practical, unconcerned with any concept resembling honour, eschewing pride as weakness. The only advice that puzzled me was his recommendation to face the sun; I thought you would want the sun to shine in your enemy's eyes. Everything points to his having been a man of experience, one who knew cost and consequence. I was more impressed as I read further, finding short precise sentences used to convey enormous meaning, and sometimes in multiple ways.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    For my second reading I decided to try the audiobook version read by Aidan Gillen. His dynamics greatly improved my understanding and appreciation for the short work.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting read that applies to different situations in life. I will definitely purchase a hard copy so I can make notes of passages I love and found useful in everyday life and experiences.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I admit to reading this out of curiosity - why did Dr. Melfi recommend Tony Soprano read this and how did he then apply it. Interesting reading but as I already knew, I would make a lousy general.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A wise warrior avoids the battle or something along these lines. The book is no literary wonder written simply as a series of bullet points. What makes it amazing is the fact that it was written before 2500 years & it is still relevant to our modern day. The set of rules outlined can be applied by any leader in any field.
    PS: of course the financial details associated with the armies can be safely discarded.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    “Move not unless you see an advantage, use not your troops unless there is something to be gained, fight not unless the position is critical.”

    I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu through an app called Serial Reader, which breaks up longer books, novellas and short stories into manageable pieces that a reader can read in 12 minutes a day. I love to use Serial Reader when I’m waiting for the bus, in the line at the post office, whenever I feel like I have a few moments, but not necessarily long enough to take out a book and find my place.

    I also really like Serial Reader because I tend to read things I wouldn’t otherwise read, but so far I’ve really enjoyed all the stories and novels that I’ve read.

    I found The Art of War to be surprisingly readable, considering it was written around the 5th century, BCE and has been translated countless times since then. It’s much more philosophical than I had anticipated, and in a way, deeply spiritual.

    Of course it’s dry. It is. It is an ancient military self-help book, none of it is relevant to me. There are lots of lists about the different kinds of ground an army might fight on, different types of weather, how to traverse it all.

    And yet I found it interesting.

    I appreciated that this translator (and, I suppose, author) warned against fighting at all. If you want to occupy a town, best to get the enemy to surrender to you painlessly, so that the town is in tact and nothing is destroyed. Sun Tzu really speaks to the desperation of war, how the last thing anyone wants to do in a war is fight, but if you have to fight, this is what you need to do.

    I’m glad I read this text. I often found myself reading it and wondering about all the people, leaders, warriors, stay-at-home mothers who’d read it before, who were reading it with me. What did they learn from it? How did they feel reading it? Was it more relevant to their lives than it was to mine?

    That, in and of itself, is a fascinating thing to think about, don’t you think?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have other versions of Sun Tzu's Art of War, and the first one I purchased in Italian was actually a new translation published by the Army publisher, as a Chinese officer part of an exchange programme saw that all the Italian versions at the time were actually... translations of translationsI have also read the Sawyer edition, among others, but I picked up this one in a library as it was the only one I saw so far that, beside the translation, included also a rewriting in ChineseInteresting series of books, as they republished classics from Chinese history following the same approach- so, I was curious to see the differences (on the English side- my abilities in Chinese will be enough to read in Chinese... in few years- in modern Chinese)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Defiantly some good tips in here. I can see why other countries armies are so well disciplined if they still use these tactics. Some of them could also work for dealing with people as well. Some handy things in here.

    It's easy to read, but he repeats things a lot, and some of the sentence are worded strangely. And then, some lines are written like poetry.

    It was a something different, and I'm glad I picked it up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm so glad I finally read this historic book. I found it very interesting and understand why it has been adapted to suit other fields -- notably management. And the version of the book I bought is beautiful in itself. Bound in traditional Chinese style, with each page folded in half and only printed on the outside. Hard to rate -- it is what it is as they say -- but I'm rating it highly because it has stood the test of time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An enduring classic, an absolute must-read for every business person and military mind the world over.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    What a curious book. I listened to a reading of it and so my reading could scarcely be called more than an overview. This short book is definitely one to be read contemplatively and over a long time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, to be honest. I just made a promise to myself I would read more classics and this was a short one to get in so I can reach my reading goal. However, I ended up really, really enjoying it. I'm not a soldier by any stretch of the imagination, but there is good, solid advice in this book that is still relevant thousands of years after it was written. It's worth a read for sure, and it's so short you can get through it quickly. I would recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have read this several times in a variety of translations. This version is formatted like a poem and is a quick read. Interesting that Sun Tzu echoes many of the issues raised by Thucydides. I remember an Instructor Gunnery during my Regimental Officers Basic Course from the United States artillery beginning every lesson with: "Sun Tzu says...". And, "If a 155 round lands on a tank, the tank is toast". So much in such a short book and it was quite possibly written before Thucydides was born.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bought at the Upstart Crow bookstore & coffee house in San Diego in 1997.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    During a sermon, the rabbi talked about this book and said that it was really a philosophy on how to live life. When I started reading it, I saw that it really is a book on how to wage war. Definitely not what I expected and definitely not a book I would ever want to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this and let my mind wander a little, but not too much. Invariably whatever I think about mixes with the words, and elegant, clear observations come out. It's like guided meditation.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The version I have also has a second section for commentaries on all the passages. It's an incredibly useful and insightful book, and not necessarily just for literal war.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Another translation (Ralph Sawyer) and lots of background history & hints of textual analysis - but fails to grab.Read July 2006
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" is a great book.This ancient classic was written over 2,500 years ago by the legendary Chinese general Sun Tzu, being aa timeless masterpiece of interaction of power and politics this book teaches many good lessons to anyone who will ever have to command a group of people, in the workplace, in school, or on the battlefield.The Art of War is an ageless book that teaches human nature and how to deal with difficult situations in life and business.The lessons learned in this book can be allied to relationship, friendship, career and make you a more complete person in general. I I recommend this book to be read by all those who wants to succeed in anything they do, It is not just about lessons in war but can be used and applied for everyday life."The Art of War" is a must read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Everyone should read this.

    It tells you as much about motivation and human compunction than any other book Ive ever read. This should be required reading for teachers, businessmen, cops, everyone that every has to deal with a group of people in a possibly hostile setting.