The Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World

"Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, and to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." The Art of War III.1, 2.

The Art of War is a work of Chinese antiquity on the art of human conflict. It is a widely commentated classic of Chinese civilization and has become widely read outside of Chinese civilization. War was long viewed in Imperial China as an important study for government. Master Sun was one of the pinnacles of the art. To fully understand the operation of classical China, their theory of conflict is worthy of further study.

This book is a faithful reproduction of the 1910 edition of Lionel Giles translation of the Art of War by Master Sun. As in the original, it includes the full text in English and classical Chinese along with commentary and analysis of the principles contained. These tie into European and Asian strategic examples are also provided by the translator. The introduction along with full ability to index the Chinese is available to the reader. This edition seeks to get a clean, easy to read, copy of the Art of War with the original Chinese for advanced study.