If you're in competition of any sort, you'd do well to read this classic work of Eastern Philosophy. While it primarily applies to warfare, with a little thought, you can understand how the information within can be applied to anything -- from business to sports.

The book is well laid-out, with an informative introduction to the work. Throughout, we get the primary points of Sun Tzu's work, which are further expounded upon by other Chinese philsophers that followed him. In most cases, this allows you to understand exactly what Sun Tzu what saying, there are instances where the quotes/explanations from the other philosophers directly contradict what Sun Tzu said, which makes things a little uncertain.

This does not mean you should discount this book -- it is actually an extremely good piece, both for the Eastern Philosophy or Military Sciences enthusiast, but for the beginner as well.

If you're going to pick up a copy of the "Art of War," this particular edition is the most attractive one to have sitting in a collection. You don't have to be an ancient Chinese general to learn from Sun Tzu's 2,000 year old masterpiece. Much of this material can still be applicable in day to day life if you look past the military language. Especially recommended for people trying to get ahead in tough fields like business or politics or even just for those who happen to like philosophy. Also check out the animated Art of War by Tsai Chi Chung if you're looking for a lighter hearted presentation of this and other Chinese classics.

I expected more; I exepect a "this the Sun-Tzu paragraph; this is how and why is applied to martial arts".
It has good content, and reflects the Sun Tzu work and martial arts.. in a dissasociated way. I found the book like the author says: I read the book of Sun-Tzu, lets take the subject of each of the 13 books, and let me develop it from a martial view.
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Esperaba m‡s. Esperaba un "este es la frase de Sun-Tzu; esto es como y por qŽ se aplica a las artes marciales".
Tine buen contenido, y si relaciona el trabajo de Sun Tzu con las artes marciales.. en forma disasociada. EncontrŽ el libro como si el autor hubiese dicho: Le' el libro de Sun-Tzu, ahora tomemos cada uno de los temas de cada libro, y desarrollemoslo cada uno desde el punto de vista marcial.

This is an excellent text on military strategy and use of tactics to control people. It is over 2500 years old and is still relevant today. It is a book studied world wide by most military forces and some police agencies. As a police officer survival skills instructor I teach many of Sun Tzu's techniques and tacics for dealing with crowd control and riots. It is also serves some purpose as a practical guide for use in self-defense training. Author has done a simple and effective job translating and presenting the ideas and concepts of Sun Tzu.

Stephen F. Kaufman does an excellent job explaining the brutal and merciless strategies of war. Like any warlord, Kaufman refrains from the usage of unnecessary metaphors and allegories, and makes a deliberate attempt to explain Sun Tzu's classic as bluntly as possible. Definitely a guide for any warrior attempting to achieve and maintain an alpha male/female ranking in society.

This particular translation of Sunzi's work, while simplified, is one of the better ones. It is a good book to peruse as a stand-alone or alternately a companion to a more complex version. True, the simplification can be a trifle distracting at times, but the amusing drawings and casual language capture the attention of the reader more than the dry translations that are the norm, keeping the focus on the intent behind the prose.

Should one be looking for a scholarly piece for scholarly work, it is likely that this would not be the correct book to use. For reading pleasure and comprehension, though, this particular work cannot be beaten. To dismiss it as suitable only for children or semi-literates smacks of elitism and narrow-mindedness.

There is so much we in the west could learn from Eastern Philosophy. Confucius and Confucianism, Lao-tzu and Daoism, and Sun Tzu and the Art of War are just some of the Great Eastern Thinking we should look at and apply to our everyday lives.

The Art of War is more than a book on warfare. It is a book about battle yes, politics yes, but it can be applied to business, relationships, leadership, and other day to day life activities. It is a book that should be looked at.

This particular version and the other books in this illustrated series is awesome. It is so much fun to look at and read and yet we can learn so much from this work.

I agree, this is not the best complete translation. Personally, I enjoy the James Clavell translation. But, as a motivational book. As an illustrated book, this is very useful and enjoyable.

This is a very good purchase and can be applied in so many ways.

Just getting started on your desire to understand eastern philosophies? Have you stood at the bookstore for hours pouring over where to start and what to buy?

Any of this authors books are a wonderful place to start. The reason? Because these books are all about the title subject in a nutshell, easy to read as a comic book, the story lines and illustrations are wonderful, and after you read this as well as all the other books by Tsai, you will have a great, well rounded start on your path and will know what you want to study more deeply!

To add, when others ask you about your interest in eastern philosophy, you can get them started here as well, because these books are fun, consise, and you know they will enjoy them over and over again!

This book prescribes that being unethical (cheating your competitors, lying to them, subverting their trusted advisors, spying on them and harrassing them when weak) is desirable and indeed good strategy. There is no coverage of any aspect of developing one's own assets or competitive strengths -- just of taking advantage of one's competitors' vulnerabilities. These strategies are passed of as "ancient Chinese wisdom". If this is Chinese wisdom, it certainly explains the crurrent fall of the economies that they dominate! This is also a clumsily written book replete with grammatical mistakes and cliches.

This book analyzed Sun Tzu's principles and theroies extremely well. It's a must for executives and educators.

It is very difficult to find any book that is error-free. What is more important is the contents. The Californian reviewer seems to be very biased against Asian authors! He obviously does not know the very high credentials of the senior author and his works. He also deliberately chose to ignore the comments of the authors on ethics which were given strong coverage towards the end of Chapter 7. Not only have I read the book, but have recommended it to many of my American corporate clients who greatly enjoyed it. I personally think that this is the best book in the market on the applications of Sun Tzu's Art of War to business. The authors deserve strong commendations for their great effort. The mere fact that the book is still selling today without any revised version since it was first published in 1991 speaks volumes about its credibility and popularity. How many books are in such demand after 9 years?

By the way, the ignorance of the Californian reviewer is appalling and mind-boggling. I hope not the average American is not like him. What has this book got to do with the recent economic ills of Asia? For his information, I like him to know that Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and many other Asian economies are NOT dominated by the Chinese. Interestingly, those that are truly dominated by the Chinese - Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore - suffered least in the recent crisis.

There are about 35 pages of somewhat usable information and the rest is nothing but quotes from Sun Tzu's Art of War followed by parables that rarely have anything concrete to learn from, let alone relevence to Sun Tzu's quote.

This book shows in a very entertaining way how ancient Chinese warfare strategies still apply in the new China of today .

The stories described offer an excellent illustration of the often bizarre and difficult to grasp Chinese behavior patterns and realities of a very complex society and country in transition.

At the same time the reader is taught one major , indispensable ingredient for success and survival in China : a deep sense of humor !

Definitely worth reading

A good read. Krause has explained the qualities of leadership in what he calls the "SPARKLE" principle. The book starts by giving quick bullets on each quality and then moves on to examples and role models in leadership like George Washington, Lawrence of Arabia, Winston Churchill, and more. The style of the book resembles so much John Maxwell's books on the 21 qualities and laws of leadership. Yet, I find Maxwell's books richer on this subject and easier to follow and remember. When I finished reading the book, I felt that the use of the bright names of Confucius and Sun Tzu on the title gives the book more credibility than it really delivers, especially when they were not mentioned as role models in that book!

The one star goes to the design and packaging of the book. The content of it deserves an even lower rating.

I didnt blame the author for his poor translation and interpretation of Sun Tzu's work (As a Chinese who had studied Sun Tzu's Art of War seriously, I am confident that I understand that much more than the majority of non Chinese). What upsets me most is the author's poor market advice/application on every right page of a [strange] Sun Tzu's adage in the Art of War on every right page. First, there were always no relationship between the two. Second, even a veteran trader and trading book fan like me was frequently brought to dont know where by the author's frequent use of very vague words and flamboyant talk.

Dont buy it. You can spend your money and time much more productively on other trading books.

I enjoyed the book, such as it is. I read most of it in the book store standing in line to buy it. It's not a technical "this is how you do it" book, it is more of an inspirational, motivational read. Isn't that what philosophy is for anway...?

Pick it up for a word of confidence, but not for technicl advice.

This book help's you understand and relate Sun Tzu's strategies to trading. If your looking for a "buy/sell here" book the stores are loaded with dozens of them. If your goal is to understand the link between Sun Tzu and trading from a Veteran trader get the book. It will spur you to think for yourself and follow the guide of Sun Tzu