Discover the teachings of one of the greatest generals to have walked the planet, Sun Tzu. The Art of War is one of the most famous and most informative texts on warfare.
Summary of the Book
The western world has always had a clear idea of what war is. Kill your enemies, destroy the resistance. Hundreds of years ago, a Chinese general found himself at the helm of the army of one of the many small countries that existed in China at the time. Sun Tzu believed in what some would find a counter-intuitive principle. War’s sole purpose and motive was to capture territory and people, not to slaughter them. Sun Tzu's fundamentals stemmed from the game of Go, a game that was rooted in its principles of territorial exchange and superiority. Despite the strangeness of this concept, it would prove devastating to westerners each time they ignored it. During the time of the Vietnam war, the American forces had been swept into North Vietnam in a sort of crusade. The war began with the soldiers being considered heroes. How, then, did it end with the chaotic rallies and riots which demanded their return home? How did the Americans fail even after holding on to better weapons? The Viet Cong followed simple tactics, tactics which were centralized around Sun Tzu’s principles. They didn’t care about killing more people. They cared about upsetting the enemy through guerilla techniques, using spies to gather information and throw their opponents off, and winning territories that mattered. Western warfare said that was a strange and cowardly way to fight. Sun Tzu would have been proud ... See more
Discover the teachings of one of the greatest generals to have walked the planet, Sun Tzu. The Art of War is one of the most famous and most informative texts on warfare.
Summary of the Book
The western world has always had a clear idea of what war is. Kill your enemies, destroy the resistance. Hundreds of years ago, a Chinese general found himself at the helm of the army of one of the many small countries that existed in China at the time. Sun Tzu believed in what some would find a counter-intuitive principle. War’s sole purpose and motive was to capture territory and people, not to slaughter them. Sun Tzu's fundamentals stemmed from the game of Go, a game that was rooted in its principles of territorial exchange and superiority. Despite the strangeness of this concept, it would prove devastating to westerners each time they ignored it. During the time of the Vietnam war, the American forces had been swept into North Vietnam in a sort of crusade. The war began with the soldiers being considered heroes. How, then, did it end with the chaotic rallies and riots which demanded their return home? How did the Americans fail even after holding on to better weapons? The Viet Cong followed simple tactics, tactics which were centralized around Sun Tzu’s principles. They didn’t care about killing more people. They cared about upsetting the enemy through guerilla techniques, using spies to gather information and throw their opponents off, and winning territories that mattered. Western warfare said that was a strange and cowardly way to fight. Sun Tzu would have been proud of them, encouraging their actions and calling the westerners mad for even thinking there was some manner of glory or honor in battle. War was only an extension of the policies of the state to Sun Tzu. Its fulfillment was the sole progress of state discussions and requirements.
