What I most remember and best learned from this is, find ways not to go to war, find ways not to fight whenever possible. ( )

The Art of War

“In order to know your enemy you have to know how they operate and how their mind and strategy works. Make alliances, execute the plan in quietude, and the battle will be won.” ( )

REREAD

Still great. Not that I was in any doubt. ( )

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is a book that has been read by many success-minded individuals. I recommend this book because success comes from intelligence and information, and The Art of War is full of both. Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher who lived in the 6th century BC, and his text has been used as a reference for military strategy ever since. The book is divided into 13 chapters, each of which covers a different aspect of warfare. While the book was written with military conflict in mind, the strategies and principles outlined within are applicable to any situation where competition or conflict exists. For anyone looking to gain a competitive edge, I highly recommend reading The Art of War. ( )

Reread: This book definitely ages well in relation to how long it's been since I first read it. It's quotable, applicable to everyday life once you level up critical thinking and fun with the right social circle. Extra points to listen to it read by Bob Neufeld on Librivox. That Brit knows how to work the old, sagely voice, and he reads a lot of classics tied to Eastern philosophy. So my second time reading this book has reinforced my "aged" opinion of the book and further made my original impression and review irrelevant.

Original review: I couldn't get into it. I'm sure someone that doesn't mind this kind of format with one-liners and interpreting Chinese euphemisms which meanings don't translate well and similar issues. The comments in the book by previous translators help, but even those comments require a solid understanding of Chinese military history. So I got lost. The parts I could understand were variations of similar, common sense topics of military strategy but written poetically. I think I appreciate the poetry of ancient Chinese writing more than the advice it had to offer: avoid direct fighting, whittle your enemy with stealth, use your environment, etc. It also iterated what I learned reading a Pierre Berton book on the War of 1812: war is about finances and supplies. Often the march itself is what kills the army, so the better supplies and the shorter supply line, the better. But...Pierre Berton illustrates that better to my preference. Again, I suspect this has more to do with the format: brief poetic lines that require a deeper understanding of the context versus story narrative. ( )