The Ultimate Art of War: A Step-By-Step Illustrated Guide to Sun Tzu's Teachings

By Antony Cummins

The most accessible edition of Sun Tzu's military strategy treatise, The Art of War--perfect for martial arts enthusiasts and anyone looking to enhance their leadership and strategic thinking skills.

This step-by-step guide breaks down the original Art of War into 200 digestible lessons that will help you get a competitive edge in all your endeavors.

Composed in the 5th century BC, Sun Tzu's Art of War is the earliest-known treatise on military strategy, and is still hugely popular around the world for its perceptive tactical advice to commanders on how to win at war with minimal bloodshed.

Aimed at all those who want to study the text in depth, this is the first step-by-step guide to the famous treatise. It breaks down the 13 chapters of the original into 200 easily digested lessons, including:

Do not press a desperate enemyControl your troops through bond of loyaltyWhen you are weak, beware attack

Each lesson is accompanied by comprehensive commentary and clarified with around 250 illustrations.

This ultimate guide to Art of War includes the classic 1910 translation by Lionel Giles and commentary that takes into account all academic interpretations of the text, highlighting differences between modern translations as well as the perspectives of historical Chinese commentators. No other edition compares and contrasts the viewpoints of different contemporary translators, or explains exactly what each section of this often enigmatic text actually means.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1786782715
• ISBN13: 9781786782717
• Release Date: October 2019
• Publisher: Watkins Publishing
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A few grains of truth in a lot of chaff.

Today, many of Sun Tzu's quotes are floating around mixed with Shakespeare and the Bible. And as with many of the quotes, they are out of context and misleading. The quoter usually thinks that repeating the word is some sort of magic. This volume at least tries to show the facts of Sun Tzu and not go overboard on popular cultural deviations as to how to apply them to other disciplines. There is an excellent index if you are looking for something specific. It is easy with hindsight and a closer look at the future to dismiss Sun Tzu as his practical tactical knowledge is of a time and place long gone. He spends a lot of time on the use of weapons and information gathering techniques of the time. This can be interesting in a historical context; otherwise, it is quite amusing. Oh yes, those grains of truth I mentioned, well, they may sound like clichés, but they are still viable. "Know your enemy and know yourself". Others are just practical sense and statistical outcomes that you learn in any military training. I could go through the list, but again, that is why you buy the book. Now, just as you decide that the book is outdated for any practical purposes today, we have artillery and now stealth and precision, the reminder that "no two wars are alike" and "it is the flexibility that makes a difference" is still true. Even in today's wars, there is a need for good intelligence and deception. We put a lot of time and energy into Psy-Ops. Sun Tzu shows the advantage of specialized units and crack troops. I have spent several years in the military and business and can say this book is a nice addition to history, otherwise of very little value to today's world for war or business or anything else that might come up.