13
11月
The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Like Machiavelli’s The Prince and the Japanese Book of Five Rings, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is as timely for business people today as it was for military strategists in ancient China. Written in China more than 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu’s classic The Art of War is the first known study of the planning and conduct of military operations. These terse, aphoristic essays are unsurpassed in comprehensiveness and depth of understanding, examining not only battlefield maneuvers, but also relevant econom
Rating: 
(out of 152 reviews)
List Price: $ 8.95
Price:
The Arts of China 900-1620 (The Yale University Press Pelican Histor) William Wa | US $78.28 End Date: Thursday Feb-23-2012 4:54:11 PST Buy It Now for only: US $78.28 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $71.04 End Date: Thursday Feb-23-2012 4:57:09 PST Buy It Now for only: US $71.04 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
Review by for The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Rating:
In ART OF WAR, there is a rare thing in books in which all of it or most of it can relate to many things. If the reader uses some of these war tactics and strategies in the modern world, they may find it easy to relate. Business is war, but in a different scenario than actual battles. Thus it is easy to relate to this book. Even rivals in sports and entertainment can be outwitted by the wisdom in this book. It also adds examples of some actions, which show how these sayings and writings apply to the real world.So no matter what you were looking for in this book, whether it be business, entertainment, sports, war games, actual wars, or even travel, you can be sure to learn more on how ot attack life here.The book’s age is hard and easy to see at the same time. You can tell that it was written thousands of years ago by what Sun Tzu tells of. (Chariots, gold pieces are currency, etc…), but some of the grammar and language are shown well in the translation in the book, making it easy to read in English as well as other languages you would be able to find the book in.The only weakness of this book would have to be its accented topic towards foriegn countries, and much older devices. The way to break through this is for the reader to be able to translate it into his/her life.——————————————————————————–
Review by for The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Rating:
War is not really based on honor… or glory, or even whose right. It’s all about conditions, who has the advantage and how to dishearten your opponents while making sure your own resources are protected. It tells you what to look for through hundreds of various quotes and snippets of advice. This book was not entirely by Sun Tzu, but a collection of famous tacticians through-out history. Each seem to add another element to the concept of how to win in conflict. In life, you can see a little of this in each day… but just remember not too get too carried away. After all, even Sun Tzu himself said ‘A battle not fought, is a battle won.’ For broadening your perspective, I’d suggest adding this book to your collection as well as ‘Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Little Book of Eastern Wisdom’ by Taro Gold.
Review by THOMAS A COOPER for The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Rating:
I must admit that there are pearls of wisdom scattered throughout this book, it seems that you must wade through depths of Samuel Griffiths’ editorial comments to reach them. While Griffith seems very knowledgable, I had a hard time sorting out Sun Tzu’s views and Griffith’ opinions on them. Much time was spent on how Tzu’s works affected other military and cultural leaders of history. While this was interesting reading, I thought I was buying The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, whan actually, I was buying a book written about the book.
Review by Craig MACKINNON for The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Rating:
The Art of War is a military classic, written around 400 BC. However, because the maxims contained in the book are so succinct and universal, this is still a useful book for understanding and waging war today. The central themes are to attack where the enemy is weak, deceive the enemy into attacking you on your terms (not his), and the use of espionage to confuse the enemy while gathering information for your own use.This book is a classical, scholarly translation. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the translation, as I do not read Chinese. However, the translator sprinkles the text with footnotes to explain why he has chosen certain phrases that do not directly translate, and offers alternative explanations from other translators. Therefore, you get a good feel for what Sun Tzu originally meant, especially through the critical inclusion of selected commentaries. In addition, there is an introduction by the author on the history and background of the text, which are useful. There are also some comments on the influence the text has had, especially on Mao Tse-tung and on the Imperial Japanese forces through World War II.Therefore, I certainly recommend this translation for a first-time reader such as myself.
Review by Ashley Breier for The Art of War (Oxford University Press)
Rating:
I read the book entitled, The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I feel that Sun Tzu�s purpose of writing this book is that of teaching war strategies. His emphasis was on not killing people, rather that of emerging victorious in the least amount of time. He was much more interested in confusion rather than massacre. Sun Tzu stresses that �the war� needs to be quickly won, he has been quoted to say, �There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.� I believe that even today, these strategies that Sun Tzu came up with, prove to be effective. Deception, not necessarily deceit, is one of the principal concepts in this novel. Sun Tzu had first hand experience in The Art of War; therefore his essays are provoking and believable. Sun Tzu�s theories on war can be applied to a great many things, such as business and sports. Sun Tzu accomplished his goal, that being to teach people his theories on war. He was, during his time, a very unique man, and during our time, he still is a very unique man. The original novel was written by Sun Tzu in about 400 B.C. There has been much deliberation about when Sun Tzu existed, or even if he existed. It is only an approximation to say he was around in 400 B.C. Due to the words he uses and his descriptions of the time period, scholars have reach an approximate time in which he lived. The translator of Sun Tzu�s essays makes this information readily available and understandable. It has then been translated many times. I read the version translated by, Samuel B. Griffith. Samuel B. Griffith did an obscene amount of research on this project. He includes an extensive bibliography as well as a recognition page. Some of his sources include; The Taiheiki. A Chronicle of Medieval Japan by Helen Craig, The Analects of Confucius by Arthur Waley, and The Development of Iron and Steel Technology in China by J. Needham. He also included an introduction to make the fourth century B.C. more understandable. Griffith explained to the unknowing person why Sun Tzu�s essays were written. That was extremely helpful due to the fact I had little knowledge of that time period. There were also numerous other things that helped to make the novel clearer such as; maps to show monopolies, paintings of Sun Tzu himself, and various Chinese symbols. One such painting was entitled Sun Tzu Drilling the Concubines of King Ho-Lu. This picture shows Sun Tzu trying to confuse his enemies through training women. I believe that this man was enthralled with this translation. You can feel that from his writing. His writing, though overwhelming at first, is easily understandable and rather entertaining. He provides many different views on the some subject. I really enjoyed reading this book. All of Griffith�s enthusiasm poured into his writing made it a quick, entertaining read. I must admit, during the first part of the book, I was rather bored. There was so much history that was going on while reading, I saw no point to the book being written. As I got farther into The Art of War I began to see things in a different light. The words began to mean something to me. I was able to relate some of the phrases into my own life. That changed everything for me. In my mind, and hopefully in everyone else�s mind that has read this book, this was indeed a book that needed to be written. I think that it should be required reading to all those studying business. It may seem weird that a book written about war pertains to business; however, many strategies taken metaphorically can help a great many people. People in the navy, military, or the army should read this book as well. I think it is rather obvious why they should read it though. If you do not fit into any of these categories, you should still read the essays. If not for anything else it can teach you quite a bit about early Chinese culture. I think any person can take away something from this book. Whether it is to not be so blunt, not let others control you, or something simpler like having a plan and accomplishing it in the shortest amount of time. I advise everyone to at least attempt to read these essays by Sun Tzu. You will not regret it.