I have managed to wear out several printed copies of Sun Tzu over the years. While the book IS about war--about forming and implementing strategies, and drawn from real life experience, Sun Tzu's lessons can be applied effectively in any life situation involving 2 or more people--the more adversarial, the better LOL. Sun Tzu has stood by me through thick and thin--his sage advice has made a big difference in my personal approach to business deals, handling employees, dealing with various professionals from a subservient position--even dealing with pushy doctors and controlling ex spouses. Sun Tzu is about LIFE. Because like it or not, life isn't fair, it isn't always fun, and some times--you need to be able to be assertive without being aggressive, and you have to be willing to be adversarial to get what you need. This is a worthwhile read for ANYONE--both from an advice and tactics point of view, AND for the clarity of style, turn of phrase, and excellent use of metaphor. I have yet to run into a BAD translation of Tzu, and this one was no exception.

I bought both books....the one here mentioned and the one I previously reviewed as his. It does not matter as both are the same type of writing...that of Sun Tzu....and extremely important for us Westerners to know about. To the Asian mind bent on war and winning: a promise means nothing. Winning is everything and the devious Asian mind has patience, has zeal, has a whole different set of values from that of the Westerner with our sense of "honor." If we have given our word, a promise to what has been agreed, we feel "honorbound" to follow through on it. The Asian mind would not, for example, take time off in World War II for Christmas as a time not to fight. The Asian mind would not comprehend this. If the goal is to win, ruthlessness is considered honorable. Winning is what it is all about and the Japanese at the end of World War II are a good example. Having "lost face" at that time, they turned to business, entrepreneur-ship, if you wish to call it something....and determine to "win the war of business." They succeeded immeasurably. They started with textiles as the least costly materials (cotton) and cheap labor. Once they acquired the capital, they put their money into developing transistors....remember the first transistor radios? Eventually even one with the name General Electric (if you looked inside, it said "Made in Japan." Next they used the capital gained from these world-wide sales to develop television sets. Next they went into the computer business. Somewhere in this mix they developed cars totally superior to our American planned-to-rust-out cars and no longer did our cars not start or fall apart in a short time. We have only our American businessmen to thank for their poor quality and cutting corners in quality. The Art of War.......an invaluable read....by everyone. Now. Nancy Morse

I mean it is obviously 4 stars. It has wisdom on warfare, and you can use this wisdom in different parts of life and not just warfare

“Warfare,” be it in battle, literally, or in interpersonal relationships, literally, reduced to its most basic and fundamental elements, as shared by Sun Tzu. Essential reading, or listening, in the case of the Audible version, to defeat, and win over, any foe, be they aware of the struggle, or not. Sometimes, as well, the most elemental struggle lies within.

This Audio Book has no commentary and is the writings of The Art of War by Sun Tzu only. I have The Art of War in written form with and without Commentary and frankly like the version without commentary better. I really like this Audio version. The reader has a good voice, easy to understand and doesn't interject his personal emotional feeling during the reading. It is read in narrative form without the reading of Chapter number or or number of the paragraphs. For example Attack by Fire or The Use of Spies, followed by Sun Tzu says, then the subject under that heading. This is actually a plus for me since it's very easy to follow the logic under each area of instruction, making a very smooth easy to follow narrative. A person can follow along with a written copy if they wish, but I found myself laying the book down, kicking back, and simply listening to the smooth logical, easy to follow reading. This is a small audio book but very enjoyable and still instructional. I have listened to this several times and still learn and just plain enjoy the reading. At 69 years old that sometimes isn't easy with some Audio Books I have. I do recommend this one. You can download this into Media Player and make a Playlist, the chapter headings are shown, you can't bookmark if you stop but I simply write down the chapter I stopped in and the verse on a slip of paper in my written copy which allows me to come back later and pick up where I left off in the Audio Book. There may be an easier way but I don't know it. Hope this helps someone.