The Art of War - Book Review

The Art of War is a Chinese military treatise written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. It is composed of 13 chapters, which presented or discussed the classic work on military planning, strategies and tactics of its time. Its aim is invicibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through understanding of physics, politics, and psychology of conflict.

The book Art of War by Sun Tzu is a very interesting subject matter for planning and strategies. The book is written from a military perspective in which a lot of the information is universal for anyone involved in strategy. Most of ideas presented were simple and self-explanatory, but is still very good information. The book is written like a form of commandments or bible that reveals the broader implications of Sun Tzu's teachings that can be applied to deal with business or personal obstacles, confrontation, and also human relationships. The book can be a useful aid for achieving success in business, career, and in life. It offered a radically new perspective on conflict, whereby one might attain victory without going to battle. There are many ways how to interpret the Sun Tzu's teachings. It will depend on who is reading the book.

After reading the book, I realized the importance of developing a strategy specific to every objective I have. It enlightened me on how important it is to evaluate and assess each aspect of a situation I am into. By applying the Sun Tzu's teachings, I know that I can be succesful in relationships, the ways to plan and accommodate for the people around me; become successful in my line of work; and success in achieving my goals. In the book Sun Tzu said "To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear." This statement is something that everyone can relate to. This means that what everyone knows is not called wisdom, victory over others by forced is not considered good. I believe that success of a person cannot be measured in his/her level of knowledge or education. It is how we embrace the reality of life and having positive attitude towards life. I think the art of war is suggesting the need to have the attitude for victory and attaining victory in a fair way or manner.

"Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:

(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

(5) He will win who has military capacity and