The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician, and it was believed to have been compiled during the late Spring and Autumn period or early Warring States period. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China’s Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.

About this edition of the translation of The Art of War

This official edition of The Art of War is the unaltered, uncommented, edited text as written by Sun Tzu in the translation of Lionel Giles, first published in 1910. Giles original translation of the art of war includes commentaries and historical asides that have been removed for clarity and readability. The intention of this version is to create an Art of War similar to what the famed Thirteen Letters from Sun Tzu would have read like without modern alterations. It is the most concise, definitive, unabridged and original version.