The Art of War

Sure enough, you will come up with the things Sun Tzu has written down so many years ago. Much of it a logical consequence of having dealt with warfare and making it the only reason of your being to push forward. Some points plain obvious, some logical consequences, some surprising connections of thought, some still applicable in a general sense and some irrelevant in todays age. But all ridden with a hallucinated certainty and urge of definitive work incapable of ever changing. It is history, it was very important at one point, but from todays perspective just a drop in the ocean that is the timeline of our world and readily available wisdom anyone could come up with if he just tried hard enough.

At approximately 2,500 years of age, "The Art of War" has not only become one of the predominant guides on successful military warfare, but also a classic of history and philosophy in its own right. Various different editions of this book exist all over the world, and it can't be denied how much influence "The Art of War" had on many events throughout the history of the world. What I found most interesting was that it could be read in so many different ways. More obviously, it's a guide on military and war, on how to win battles and how to efficiently make use of spies, fire, nature or the weather. But all around those aspects, the text is filled with words of advice which could be adapted to pretty much every scenario of life affected by opposition or antagonism. I can't pretend being eager to adapt those messages to my own life, and I'd definitely argue against living by the rules suggested by this book, but as a historical manuscript, it is incredibly important - and, to my personal surprise, also surprisingly short, meaning that it can be read over the course of one to three hours, depending on how fast you read and how thoroughly you want to explore the book. Furthermore, even if you may expect something completely different from such an old text, the sentences are well-structured, constructed in a very understandable way and generally very comprehensive, though that could be the advantage of the translated edition I've read. Unless you read it for historical or educational purposes, "The Art of War" can be a very entertaining experience. The proposed tactical advices are interesting and provide some fascinating insight into what people thought 2,500 years ago - and since the book doesn't feel like it's as old as it is at all, also into how people might be thinking nowadays. My highest recommendation; this is definitely one of the important classics everyone should at the very least have taken a look at.

Es ist spannend, was damals schon an Wissen über Führung, Strategie etc in Schriftform erstellt wurde.