THE ART OF WAR

Written in the 6th century BCE, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is still used as a book of military strategy today. Napoleon, Mao Zedong, and Douglas MacArthur all claimed to have drawn inspiration from it. And beyond the world of war, modern-era business and management gurus have also applied Sun Tzu’s ideas to politics and corporate strategy. This pocket illustrated dual-language edition not only presents the original Chinese characters with James Trapp’s translation on the facing page, but also tests Sun Tzu’s ideas against history. Each of the 13 chapters includes a new commentary giving examples of how Sun Tzu’s wisdom has been borne out on the world’s battlefields. When, for example, has information provided by spies changed the course of a battle? How has history shown Sun Tzu’s ideas on the importance of terrain in conflict to be true? Of immense influence on leaders across millennia, The Art of War is a classic text richly deserving this illustrated and expanded dual-language edition.

Sun Tzu (also known as Sunzi) was traditionally thought by historians to have been born around 544 BCE, and to have later served as a general leading the forces of King Helü of Wu, one of the seven Warring States of Eastern China during the Spring and Autumn period. The Art of War is based on his many victories, although modern scholarship suggests the book may have been written later.