The Art of War/The Book Of Lord Shang
1997
First Published
4.01
Average Rating
256
Number of Pages
The two political classics in this book are the product of a time of intense turmoil in Chinese history. Dating from the Period of the Warring States (403-221BC), they anticipate Machiavelli's The Prince by nearly 2000 years. The Art of War is the best known of a considerable body of Chinese works on the subject. It analyses the nature of war, and reveals how victory may be ensured. The Book of Lord Shang is a political treatise for the instruction of rulers. These texts are anything but armchair strategy or ivory-tower speculation. They are serious, urgent and practical responses to the desperate situations in which they were written. They have been immensely influential both inside and outside China.
Avg Rating
4.01
Number of Ratings
538
5 STARS
41%
4 STARS
29%
3 STARS
22%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads
Authors
Sun Tzu
Author · 17 books
Sun Tzu (孫子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) is a honorific title bestowed upon Sūn Wu (孫武 c. 544-496 BC), the author of The Art of War (孫子兵法), an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. Sun Tzu believed in the use of the military sciences to effect outcomes that would result in peace. In the author's name, Sūn Wu, the character wu, meaning "military", is the same as the character in wu shu, or martial art. Sun Wu also has a courtesy name, Chang Qing (Cháng Qīng).
Shang Yang
Author · 2 books
Shang Yang (390–338 BC), also known as Wei Yang, was Chinese legalist philosopher and important statesman of the State of Qin during the Warring States period of Chinese history. His policies laid the administrative and political foundations that would enable Qin to conquer all of China, uniting the country for the first time and ushering in the Qin dynasty.
