The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Art of War is a classic of military strategy. It is ascribed to Sun Tzu, also named Sunzi or Sun Wu, a quasi-legendary figure. The work has been dated from between the 6th to the 3rd century BCE. It is known worldwide and is read widely by students of military and political science. As with other classics, many of its themes are timeless and quotations from the work can be meaningful apart from the thousands of years which separate us from the time and place of its creation. The present work is a new edition based on the original translation of James Legge. The 19th century English prose of Legge is awkward to our modern ears, and slows down our reading and appreciation of this classic. The Art of War is not a long book, but historically it has always been sold along with hundreds of pages of introduction, commentary, and analysis. More often than not that commentary itself is hard to understand, as much of it is hundreds or thousands of years old, and translated into the same awkward English prose. This modern edition is meant to communicate the authentic essence and meaning of this work in modern, accessible English prose, focusing only on what can be clearly conveyed and understood, and jettisoning the rest.