Brief books normally get brief reviews. This particular version of the Chinese classic on warfare is less than 10.000 words long. And, as the title states, it is written in plain English. If you are looking for the original poetics, you have purchased the wrong volume. If you are looking for the original footnotes from the authoritative Giles 1910 version, you have the wrong volume. If you are looking for the Chinese version with cases studies and examples added over several centuries, you have the wrong volume. If you are looking for a more recent version with contemporary case studies and useful commentaries (Griffith et al 1963, 1971 and 2005, Sawyer 1994, Kaufman 1996, Michelson 2003, Cantrell 2004, McCreadie 2008, Cleary 2009, Butler-Bowden 2010, Michelson and Michelson 2010, Vook 2011 [etc. ad infinitum]), you have the wrong volume.
If you are looking for a very slim, inexpensive, no frills, plain spoken version, this is your choice. In this form one can read it in 15 to 20 minutes over a nice cup of tea. Precisely what you will have gleaned from that reading is somewhat more difficult to say, but you will have the rosy glow of knowing you have “read something worthwhile.”

In all seriousness, this would be an excellent choice for university courses where the attention span of the student is noticeably deficient or where English is not their first language. Other than that, it’s not clear why another version of this book needed to be produced. Although, there will undoubtedly be people who prefer it.

1.5 mushroom heads

By ehwhat?

The Art of War in plain English, By Sun Tzu, Editor A. N. Pearce, e-eye digital editions, 4 February 2012. ASIN: B0079LSSBQ File size:186Kb
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_{This article was originally published in forum thread: The Art of War in plain English, By Sun Tzu, Editor A. N. Pearce. started by ehwhat? View original post}

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