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Monday, January 17, 2011

Sun Tzu's The Art of War Translated by Lionel Giles with a new foreword by John Minford


Author:Sunzi, 6th cent. B.C
Publisher:Tokyo ; Rutland, Vt. : Turtle Pub., 2008.
ISBN:9780804839440 (hbk.)
Format:Book
Physical Description:lxvii, 188 p. ; 20 cm.
Subjects:Military art and science China Early works to 1800


The oldest known military treatise, Sun Tzu's the Art of War is still one of the world's most influential writings on strategic thought. Applicable everywhere from the boardroom to the bedroom, from the playing field to the battlefield, its wisdom has never been more highly regarded or used. Now available in its complete form-including an insightful English translation, the entire Chinese language text, and the original translator's often-omitted extensive use and discussion of Chinese characters-this essential examination of the art of strategic thinking features extensive commentary and an insightful historical introduction. 

From Publishers Weekly

Sun-tzu's The Art of War has led military strategists, economists, politicians and other leaders for more than 2,000 years, and has been translated numerous times. Scholar Minford takes a crack at it here, offering a new translation, introduction and commentary. This fundamental volume could be one of the best in recent years, as it features notes on pronunciation, suggestions for further reading, a chronology of Chinese dynasties and historical events, and more. After these briefings, Minford separates the book in two: first, a straightforward translation of Sun-tzu's book, and second, the translation coupled with commentary. "The Art of War is both inspirational and worrying. It is beautiful and chilling....It lends itself to infinite applications," Minford writes. Indeed, this new translation is accessible to anyone seeking guidance, whether they're learning to drive defensively, ironing out relationship kinks or conducting war.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

For more than two thousand years, Sun-tzu's The Art of War has provided leaders with essential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops and terrain, and employing cunning and deception. An elemental part of Chinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Western struggle for survival and success, whether in battle, in business or relationships.

Book Info

For more than 2000 years, The Art of War has stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture-a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy.

About the Author

Little is known about Sun Tzu (544-496 B.C.) and his life during the Warring States period after the decline of the Zhou dysnasty, but his classic, The Art of War, has been one of the central works of Chinese literature for 2500 years. John Minford (editor/translator) studied Chinese at Oxford and at the Australian National University and has taught in China, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. He edited (with Geremie Barme) Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience and (with Joseph S. M. Lau) Chinese Classical Literature: An Anthology of Translations. He has translated numerous works from the Chinese, including the last two volumes of the Penguin Classics edition of Cao Xueqin's eighteenth-century novel The Story of the Stone and the martial-arts fiction of the contemporary Hong Kong novelist Louis Cha.