The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Updated 28-Jun-2024

This is the first volume in the Seven Classics on War and Politics

New Modern Edition

The Art of War by Sun Tzu - New Modern Edition
Third Edition
A new translation by Jeff Mcneill
Classics on War and Politics, Vol. 1
Copyright © 2012, 2018 by Classics Press LLC

BISAC
History / Military / Strategy
History / Asia / China
Political Science / Public Policy / Military Policy

FIRST EDITION - Published 2012-12-06
Ebook ISBN 978-1-938412-00-4
Print ISBN 978-1-938412-00-4

SECOND EDITION - Published 2018-02-08
Ebook ISBN 978-1-938412-08-0
Print ISBN 978-1-938412-08-0

THIRD EDITION - Published 2019-10-15
Ebook ISBN 978-1-938412-20-2
Print ISBN 978-1-938412-21-9
Audio ISBN 978-1-938412-22-6

Introduction
The Art of War is a classic of military strategy. It is ascribed to Sun Tzu, also called Sunzi or Sun Wu, a quasi-legendary figure.

The work has been dated from between the 6th to the 3rd century BCE. It is known worldwide and is considered required reading for students of political and military science.

As with other classics, many of its themes are timeless. Quotations from the work can be meaningful apart from the thousands of years which separate us from the time and place of its creation.

The New Modern Edition of The Art of War is meant to communicate the authentic essence and meaning of this work in modern, accessible English prose. The first edition was published in December, 2012.

Through 2017 this work has sold 2,900 copies with 97 ratings and 4.5/5 stars on Google Play Bookss. For 2018 we've completed a revised edition with increased sales. For 2019 the Google Play Store has changed and for some unknown reason we have very few sales at this point. In order to reach a wider audience we now distribute our Ebooks exclusively through Amazon KDP Select and the Kindle store.

New Modern Edition - Reviews

This classic is written in a way that anyone can understand. Would like to see more books of this nature please. - Martin Robertson

It's a really good book. I've read it before but it's nice how they condensed it and made it easier to understand. - Steven Magana

I found this book to be very interesting. Shorter than I expected but a good quick read. I believe the principles in this book are found often in life today, more so than we realize. Thanks to the author and all those who brought a good presentation of this ancient work. - Aaron Sierra

An excellent translation of the Chinese classic of strategic planning. - James Dockery

It was a short read but very informative. Personally I find this to be better than the original. It's easier to digest the information because the original has unusual sentence structure. - Viter Nguyen

Audiobook Edition

  • Availability March 2020

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Art of War - New Modern Edition - Introduction

The Art of War is a classic of military strategy. It is ascribed to Sun Tzu, also called Sunzi or Sun Wu, a quasi-legendary figure. The work has been dated from between the 6th to the 3rd century BCE. It is known worldwide and is considered required reading for students of political and military science.

As with other classics, many of its themes are timeless. Quotations from the work can be meaningful apart from the thousands of years which separate us from the time and place of its creation.

The Art of War is itself a brief work. However, it is generally packaged with extensive commentary and additional essays, so that it appears to be a book of around 200 pages or more. (This new modern edition is only 40 pages in length.)

Much of what is added to these editions is only interesting to academics or students of the minutiae of history. At the same time, the intentions of readers tends to be to find out what it is that makes this work such a classic, not learn about the history of its commentaries.

This new edition meant to address the needs of the modern reader. By honing the language down to clear formulations, The Art of War can be more readily understood, more enjoyable to read, and more relevant to today.

The English is based on the original translation by Lionel Giles. The 1910 English prose of Giles is awkward to our modern ears, and slows down our reading and appreciation of this classic.

The new modern edition of The Art of War is meant to communicate the authentic essence and meaning of this work in modern, accessible English prose. This version is an abridgement, a shortened form of a work which nevertheless retains the same meaning and upholds the unity of the original.

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