Review: Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’

★★★★☆

The Art of War is a treatise on military strategy from the 5th century BC. Despite its age, it is credited with influencing many more modern military leaders, from Napoleon to Chairman Mao, Stalin to Fidel Castro.

This Chinese classic is a concise volume, and though military strategy isn’t an obvious genre choice for most of us, I think this book is an excellent suggestion for anyone who finds many classics too dense or intimidating.

I read this text for research, but don’t worry – I’m not planning my march on Westminster. It’s just that I like to write Medieval-style worlds, complete with battles, and the older I get the more I am skeptical of my ability to write such events convincingly. I hoped that The Art of War would enable me to get inside the head of an exceptionally skilled military man of ancient times, and thus improve my capacity to write characters like him.

Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So in war, the Way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak.

It may not be a long book, but this is partly because it is so precisely worded. Though I read the text as an English translation, I appreciated its clarity of expression. There is no meandering, and each of the thirteen chapters raise points of wisdom that I feel have given me more confidence in writing my imagined campaigns.

The philosophy of the author is also admirable. Despite his career, it is clear that Sun Tzu was as anti-war as a military man can be. The text is always clear that war is never a desirable option, and its leans towards defense rather than the attack. Sun Tzu writes with clear emphasis that conflict between armed forces should always be a last resort, and the text is openly critical of using one’s military powers for egotistical posturing or emotional purposes.

If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

As far as classical literature goes, this has been one of my most enjoyable reads. It is educational, and though I don’t think I’ll be ordering archers to take up their flaming arrows at any point in the foreseeable future, I took pleasure in the escapism.

Poetic in the sparsest sense, I think The Art of War is a valuable text for anyone who writes about soldiering, or who has any interest in the psychology of politics and power. It is an extremely quotable book, and offers enjoyment both as a whole, and when dipped in and out of.

I will be holding onto my copy for reference, and am sure I will refer to it the next time one of my imaginary cities must prepare for a siege.