Authored
by Sun Tzu
Translated
by Samuel B. Griffith
“The
Art of War” is a long time staple of tactics. It primarily focuses on the
quality and manner of leadership for a general (head of forces). Some chapters
are dedicated to discipline.
Other
chapters focus on how to use land, weather, and other uncontrollable
characteristics to your advantage and how one should treat each situation.
The
last chapter is dedicated how to use espionage and intelligence, something the
United States clearly strongly practices.
In
many ways, what makes the book so interesting is how old it is and yet how
applicable the verses are to modern warfare and tactics.
In
terms of length and composition it is rather short. The book is written in
short verses, usually all well grouped and on topic, though at times there are
some jumps. The version I read had commentary from other ancient writers as
well as footnotes.
Perhaps
the part I found most interesting was in the end where there is a series of
exchanges (not part of the main text but included as part of the compilation)
that had the precepts of the book as a series of discussions between the
emperor or king and their military adviser. This section was less dry and staccato
and more organic in the delivery of the information and was very interesting in
that regard.
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