The Art of War— Sun Tzu | Book Review

The Art of War" was written by General Sun Tzu, an oriental political thinker, twenty-five centuries ago in China. It is considered the best military strategy book ever written. It had a significant impact in Asia, so the Japanese military adapted their ideas to their own knowledge. The samurai Miyamoto Mushashi studied his texts and wrote the most important Japanese war essay, "The Book of the Five Rings.

This masterpiece, written in the form of a manual of the time, more than 2,500 years old, is one of the most important Chinese classical texts. The art of war is about putting together a war as a way to resolve differences, creates dialogue and negotiations that must prevail to resolve problems between states and nations, as explicitly stated in the book despite the fact that it is a book of war and the arts.

“The first one to make the move is the "guest"; the last one is the "host." The "guest" has it difficult; the "host has it easy."

It is seen that the true success of war is to win a battle without losses on both sides and then to work towards a lasting peace based on reliable treaties and agreements. The Art of War is, definitely and as it is known, the best strategy book of all time. As documented, it inspired Napoleon, Machiavelli, Mao Tse Tung, and many more historical figures.

It is surprising to see how many of the teachings described in this book can be extrapolated to other less warlike fields such as business management, strategic management, or the survival of a product/service or company within a highly competitive market and with barriers that are difficult to break, like the one we find today in any industry or sector.

“Complete victory occurs when the army does not fight, the city is not besieged, the destruction does not last for a long time, and in each case, the enemy is defeated by the use of strategy.”

It should also be borne in mind that it may be a book that has a difficult interpretation and that the technical and purely belligerent part makes reading it slow and somewhat unattractive, especially towards the end of the book.

The Art of War is a treatise on the practice and strategy of war where the author explains how to analyse the best options to be victorious and thus avoid a defeat, taking into account that the most important thing is to subdue the enemy without fighting and based on deception, in such a way that the opponent remains confused and in an unfavorable position. To achieve this, the book gives you some organization, planning, and supply guidelines, the way to adapt to the terrain and environmental conditions, the best way to use resources and spies, or how to take advantage of the advantages and opportunities without forgetting to maintain leadership.

The author also explains that knowing ourselves and the enemy is of the utmost importance to achieve the main objective, which is not to be defeated. For Sun Tzu, the one who devises tactics triumphs, seizes his opportunity, accepts his weaknesses, and recognizes his strengths. What Sun Tzu wanted with this book was not to incite to battle but, precisely, to ensure that wars lasted the shortest possible time and had the least number of casualties so as not to make the people suffer. Let us bear in mind that this work was written in a historical and territorial context in which there were many monarchs in many small kingdoms that spent their lives fighting and conquering. Sun Tzu realized that war was inevitable, so he tried to keep it from being excessively bloody.

Words of Wisdom

"There are some roads that should not be traveled, some armies that should not be attacked, some cities that should not be stormed, and some lands that should not be reclaimed."

"The victories of good warriors are distinguished more by intelligence than by bravery."

"If you know your enemy and you know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. If you are ignorant of your enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are the same; you will lose one battle and win another; if you are ignorant of your enemy and yourself, you can be sure of being defeated in all battles."

“The best victory is to win without fighting.”

“If you use the enemy to defeat the enemy, you will be powerful wherever you go.”

“The worst tactic is to attack a city. Besieging, cornering a city is only done as a last resort.”

“If you know others and you know yourself, not in a hundred battles will you be in danger; if you don't know others, but you know yourself, you will lose one battle and win another; if you don't know others or yourself, you will be in danger in every battle.”

“Be extremely subtle, discreet, to the point of having no form. Be completely mysterious and confidential, to the point of being silent. In this way, you will be able to direct the destiny of your adversaries.”

Concluding thoughts

I must say that reading this book meant a more significant effort for me than usual since the very idea of ​​doing it was to take a step - quite substantial - outside my comfort zone. In the end, scrutinizing it turned out to be a pretty good decision. The book "The Art of War" not only tries to explain how to achieve victories and defeat the enemy but even avoid defeat and fall into the trap of the enemy, families, and others. When you read the book, you don't feel like the book has been written for all that long. An unprecedented historical and military value that can be applied even today despite technical and military progress. The book was written twenty-five centuries ago and is still considered as one of the most critical military books, and still ranks among the hundreds of most essential texts in history.

Lastly, I would say that we all have our little battles, whether they are internal or against our environment, Sun Tzu's advice can help us face those little problems of the day to day to achieve great victories. #TheArtofWar #SunTzu #SelfHelp #History #Classics