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Sun-Tzu is a landmark translation of the Chinese classic that is without a doubt one of the most important books of all time. Popularly known as The Art of War, Sun-Tzu is one of the leading books on strategic thinking ever written. While other books on strategy, wisdom, and philosophy come and go, both leaders and gentle contemplators alike have embraced the writings of Sun-tzu.

Sun-Tzu is not simply another of many translations already available, but an entirely new text, based on manuscripts recently discovered in Linyi, China, that predates all previous texts by as much as one thousand years. In translating the text, researcher and interpreter J. H. Huang traced the roots of the language to before 221 B.C. to get to the original intent; Besides offering a wonderfully clear translation, Huang adds an introduction to the history behind Sun-Tzu and his own comments on the meaning of the text. In addition, Sun-Tzu includes six appendices, five of which were uncovered at Linyi and are not found in other editions.The writings of Sun-tzu have stood the test of time, and J. H. Huang's Sun-Tzu is the edition for the next millennium and beyond.

Average Customer Rating:

A Valuable Keepsake

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This, the hardback version of Ralph Sawyer's translation of the 2000 year old compendium of Eastern Rules of war is the perfect keepsake. It comes with ribbon cover jacket and all. Next to Karl von Clausewitz's "On Strategy," Sun Tzu's distilled lessons from the Chinese battlefields, is probably the most referenced book on war strategy in the field of military history and operations. This volume comes with ample historical background allowing the reader to understand "in context," how Sun Tzu's tenets, philosophy and rules of war came into being and the circumstance under which they were first applied. His philosophy was quite a simple one: Fight only smart wars. By outwitting the opponent with good preparation, speed, stealth, guile, intelligence and flexibility, a field commander can win the war before a "shot is fired," and thereby minimize lost of national treasure in men and resources. There is ample evidence that most generals down through history have referred to the Art of War, including General Colin Power during "Dessert Storm" (He makes reference to it in his autobiography). Unfortunately beyond General David Petreaus, now in charge of "the surge," and who wrote the book on modern counterinsurgency, there is scant evidence that the generals and civilian leaders conducting the present wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan adequately consulted the "Art of War" before mounting those battlefields. One could certainly argue that neither of those wars is currently being fought smartly. Five Stars

A good version

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Sun Tzu's Art of War is extremely aged and terse, making it not the most pleasant read, but as far as versions of his book go, this is the best one I've seen. The translation seems good, and lots of extra relevant material is added to give it all a good context. If you've made up your mind to read the Art of War, but don't want something quite as crusty as the original, this is probably the version for you.

Asian military history and philosophy	Customer Rating:
A must have for anyone who thinks beyond what they see. This book contains very real situations that apply in any age and sharpens one mind in any form of combat. I recommend having this book on your personal book shelf you will come back to it more than once. Very good. A little metaphorical at times but is easily discernable for a sharp mind.

Lessons to take to heart

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I'm not a military strategist, but it seems that neither are many of the people running military strategies these days. And I don't mean only American military strategy. If Western civilization wants to survive, it had better hurriedly take Sun Tzu's most poignant messages to heart--messages perhaps best translated in this classic edition. Among these are the lessons concerning one's knowledge and understanding of an enemy's philosophy and thinking. The lack attention paid by Western military, judicial, journalist, educational and law enforcement leaders to Islamic military, educational, judicial and apocalyptic ideology--and by that, I mean ideology as written by Islamic scholars and sages, not as interpreted by newspaper or academic apologists--is truly appalling. Unless leaders start to pay heed to the advice of Sun Tzu, and become genuinely familiar with Islamic law as regards non-Muslims, the current state of Western military affairs will get much worse before they get better. In other words, there will be millions more casualties--not just the thousands we've had since 1979--but millions. --Alyssa A. Lappen

Did not like	Customer Rating:
I was not a fan of this book. I'm sure on some levels it is very important and has some greatness to it, but I never found it. I found the book to be boring and not once did it hold my attention. While it may be a classic, I placed my copy on the bottom shelf.