The Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) FROM OUR EDITORS
Barnes & Noble Classics offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Art of War is the work of a fifth-century B.C. heir to
the knowledge amassed by a clan of experts on arms and fighting, and is
widely recognized as one of the most useful books ever written on leading
with wisdom. Sun Tzu’s terse but probing aphorisms come down to us
through the millennia as a practical guide to achieving success by coming
to a deeper understanding of the nature of conflict. The Art of
War is an essential tool for modern corporate warriors battling to
gain the advantage in the boardroom and for anyone looking for advice on
how to win the upper hand in confrontations and competitions.
Lionel Giles’s famed 1910 translation, laced with commentary from
the most illustrious names in Chinese military and historical literature,
is here brought up to date for today’s readers. Excerpts from the
works of Western writers and thinkers, both ancient and
modern—generals, poets, political leaders, and other canny
observers—expand on points made by the master. This new edition
offers the text of The Art of War both with and without
annotation, making it more accessible to aspiring leaders and students of
war than ever before. Sun Tzu’s incisive blueprint for battlefield
strategy is as relevant to today’s combatants in business,
politics, and everyday life as it once was to the warlords of ancient
China.
Introduction and Notes by Dallas Galvin
"War is a howling, baying jackal. Or is it the animating storm? Suicidal
madness or the purifying fire? An imperialist travesty? Or the glorious
explosion of a virile nation made manifest upon the planet? In all
recorded history, this debate is recent, as is the idea of peace to
describe an active state happier than a mere interregnum between
fisticuffs. Astounding as it may seem, war has consistently won the
debate." –from the Introduction by Dallas Galvin
A writer and journalist specializing in international affairs and the
arts, Dallas Galvin has reported on military affairs in Latin America and
Asia and produced documentaries for the NATO Alliance.
Sun Tzu is thought to have lived in the fifth century b.c., at
roughly the same time as Confucius. His teachings are most likely a
combination of his clan’s ideas and his own, as well as concepts
associated with early Taoism. On the basis of his growing reputation, Sun
Tzu entered the service of Ho Lu, king of the state of Wu, as a traveling
adviser for hire. His military stratagems intrigued the king, and Sun Tzu
eventually became general of the king’s army. Employing psychology,
deceit, strategic power, and diplomacy as the fundamental arts of combat,
Sun Tzu defeated numerous opponents and created a systematic treatise on
war. Military history offers dramatic testimony of Sun Tzu’s
wisdom—specifically, the adoption of his methods by the leaders of
history’s great armies, and the failure of those who disregarded
them.
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