From a content perspective, there are many well-known phrases that ring true today. However, I can accept this limitation given that it was written as a technical document more than two millennia ago in a different language. I’m unsure if this is the result of how the work was translated or if the original text was pieced together from scattered writings, but it gives the writing a disjointed feel. Frankly, I found this to be the best and most informative part of the text.Sun Tzu’s actual text is written as a series of individual statements that appear to have been cobbled together. More importantly, the introduction does a good job of establishing the climate that Sun Tzu lived in within what we now know as China.
That text is preceded by a rather informative historical overview of the life of Sun Wu – of which only a few documented facts are known. While the version I read was about 300 pages, less than 50 pages make up the actual translated writings of Sun Tzu.
Even today, his treatise on war is studied by not just military officers, but business leaders and politicians as a roadmap to victory.While most of us have heard of Art of War and have no doubt read many of the catchy anecdotes that populate Sun Tzu’s writing, I dare say very few people have actually read the work from start to finish. While the often quoted lines of Sun Tzu are as lyrical as poetry, it was written 2,500 years ago with the singular purpose of codifying the essential requirements for generals and soldiers to be victorious on the battlefield. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”Born in the fifth century B.C., Sun Wu (Sun Tzu was an honorary title) wrote the quintessential rulebook for warfare, known today as Art of War. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. 3 stars“All warfare is based on deception.”“The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
0 kommentar(er)
