The Art of War
Sun Tzuc. 500 BCESun Tzu boiled military strategy down to principles so basic they work far beyond war: know your enemy, all warfare is deception, look weak when you're strong.
Read this if you…
- like Ancient Wisdom
- like super short books
- want to read material that inspired later military and business strategy
Skip this if you…
- want narrative
- want rigor and detail
- don't want to feel like one of those self-help/business people who love it
Why It Matters
Sun Tzu boiled military strategy down to principles so basic they work far beyond war: know your enemy, all warfare is deception, look weak when you're strong. The book has been required reading for military leaders, business strategists, and competitive thinkers for 2,500 years. It's the most influential strategy text ever written.
The 
Take
Super easy quick read, awesome to see what generals thought about back then, even if it is quite simple
Depicted in Art
Half-length Qing portrait of Sun Tzu in scholar-general's robes, holding a tablet, beard and topknot in the conventional historical-portrait style.
An accordion-unfolded bamboo book of Sunzi, the strips bound side-by-side, the imperial inscription 乾隆御書 (Qianlong Imperial Calligraphy) visible on the cover panel.
Cropped frame of a single column-block from the Song printed Eleven Commentaries edition, showing the woodblock character cuts at higher resolution.
1192
Schematic map of the 506 BCE Battle of Boju in the Wu–Chu war, with troop positions and movement arrows across the Han River region.
Stone statue of Sun Tzu in scholar-general dress, standing on a plinth in a Chinese-style garden in Tottori, Japan.
2008
Recommended Editions
Thomas Cleary
Shambhala · 1988
Cleary's Shambhala is the version that actually got read. Short, blunt, and packaged with eleven classical Chinese commentators in the margins. Less academic than Nylan but the one most people who quote Sun Tzu are quoting.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
“All warfare is based on deception.”