Art of War - Folio Society
Regular readers of this blog probably know by now that I am a sucker for nice editions of books. And few reasonably priced books are quite as nice as the Folio Society edition of Sun Tzu: Art of War (interestingly, there is another ancient Art of War, by Sun Pin, which I only learned about while reading this book).
This edition includes a lengthy scholarly introduction, partial silk binding and the usual Folio Society focus on paper and craftsmanship, as well as the central text of the Art of War (the thirteen chapters) and an appendix with non-central texts of more recent discovery.
Leaving aside the quality of the edition, this one seemed like a good primer for the layman (of which I most certainly am one) on the Art of War. This book has been used as a strategy guide everywhere from the chaos of the battlefield to the wood-paneled tranquility of the boardroom (and made some consultant a lot of money, although it probably did nothing for his clients!), and makes for interesting reading as a window into the military mind of a 6th-century people, as well as a look into certain aspects of Chinese philosophy (of which warfare was an integral part).
This is one of those books that I think everyone with an interest in literature or philosophy would be well served to read at some point (the central text can be easily completed in a single afternoon's reading). But, as a business text? I would probably not recommend it...
This edition includes a lengthy scholarly introduction, partial silk binding and the usual Folio Society focus on paper and craftsmanship, as well as the central text of the Art of War (the thirteen chapters) and an appendix with non-central texts of more recent discovery.
Leaving aside the quality of the edition, this one seemed like a good primer for the layman (of which I most certainly am one) on the Art of War. This book has been used as a strategy guide everywhere from the chaos of the battlefield to the wood-paneled tranquility of the boardroom (and made some consultant a lot of money, although it probably did nothing for his clients!), and makes for interesting reading as a window into the military mind of a 6th-century people, as well as a look into certain aspects of Chinese philosophy (of which warfare was an integral part).
This is one of those books that I think everyone with an interest in literature or philosophy would be well served to read at some point (the central text can be easily completed in a single afternoon's reading). But, as a business text? I would probably not recommend it...