The Art of War by Sun Tzu book cover
Ancient military strategy classic (Lionel Giles translation, public domain)

The Art of War

by Sun Tzu

Thirteen short chapters on planning, deception, speed, ground and spies, in Lionel Giles' 1910 translation with his notes from old Chinese commentators.

★★★★☆ 4 / 5

A short, quotable classic that is more about planning, restraint and information than about tricks. The Giles edition is dense: the commentators' notes are a large part of the text, and many famous lines are paraphrases or not in this translation at all. Four out of five (draft opinion).

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The Art of War: ranked

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What is The Art of War about?

The Art of War is a treatise on military strategy attributed to Sun Tzu. We worked from Lionel Giles’ English translation, whose edition dates from 1910 according to both the text’s own preface and the Project Gutenberg page, using Project Gutenberg ebook #132. Giles’ own introduction says that any account of Sun Tzu’s life rests almost wholly on conjecture, so we treat the book as the main evidence.

The book has thirteen chapters: Laying Plans, Waging War, Attack by Stratagem, Tactical Dispositions, Energy, Weak Points and Strong, Maneuvering, Variation in Tactics, The Army on the March, Terrain, The Nine Situations, The Attack by Fire, and The Use of Spies. Below you’ll find Hailey’s ranking of fifteen lines by how usable they are outside war, plus a check of popular quotes that are paraphrased or not in this translation. The ranking is opinion; the quotes and chapter numbers come from the text.

Read it if
  • You want the original text behind the quotes you keep seeing
  • You like short chapters you can read in any order
  • You want a strategy book that applies to planning, not only to war
  • You enjoy notes and commentary that argue about what a line means
Skip it if
  • You want a modern business book with examples from companies
  • You dislike dense notes full of ancient Chinese names and battles
  • War, executions and deception as a method are a hard line for you

The Art of War review scorecard

Ideas
4.5
Readability
3.5
Use outside war
3.5
Brevity
4.5
Notes and context
4
Average4.0 / 5

The Art of War: questions people ask

Is The Art of War worth reading?

A short, quotable classic that is more about planning, restraint and information than about tricks. The Giles edition is dense: the commentators' notes are a large part of the text, and many famous lines are paraphrases or not in this translation at all. Four out of five (draft opinion). Read it if: you want the original text behind the quotes you keep seeing; you like short chapters you can read in any order; you want a strategy book that applies to planning, not only to war; you enjoy notes and commentary that argue about what a line means. Skip it if: you want a modern business book with examples from companies; you dislike dense notes full of ancient chinese names and battles; war, executions and deception as a method are a hard line for you.

Who translated this edition of The Art of War?

Lionel Giles. The preface of the text we used refers to his 1910 edition, and the Project Gutenberg page (ebook #132) gives 1910 as the original publication year of the translation.

How many chapters does The Art of War have?

Thirteen: Laying Plans, Waging War, Attack by Stratagem, Tactical Dispositions, Energy, Weak Points and Strong, Maneuvering, Variation in Tactics, The Army on the March, Terrain, The Nine Situations, The Attack by Fire and The Use of Spies.

Is the book public domain?

The Giles translation is on Project Gutenberg as ebook #132, so it can be read free online. We worked from that text.

Why can I not find some famous quotes in it?

Several popular lines are paraphrases or are not in the Giles text. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer is not in it, and neither is the exact sentence every battle is won before it is ever fought.

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