The best.

This copy of The Art of War contains MANY translation notes and historical anecdotes. I found them very helpful for understanding the passages, but if you aren't looking for all the extras this copy probably isn't the one for you!

In any venture: these principles are effective

This one by far exceeds the rest, I feel it holds true to the original translation but has the right twist for modern understanding! Must have for all military, LEO's.

This book is confusing not because of its concepts but because almost the entire book is notes.

Best all time favorites!!

good read

This was a good read although difficult because some of the content was dry. This should be read by anyone that has strategic plans whether in battle or in general life.

Heard a lot about this so decided to give it a chance

I think it rather excessive that the actual art of war translation doesn't begin until the 74th page. Otherwise however it is good and very detailed

Sun Tzu speak on many different topics in this book and when reading I attempted to apply these to my life, not from a war aspect, but from an aspect of strategic thinking and evaluation of day to day encounters.

It was the worst book I have ever read and please don't read it you would be wasting your time and life and I'm telling the truth

A number of grammatical errors

Good book but can you add questions and answers to this book.

K

^^

Fans of this genre have either read or have made a point to read "The Art of War". What makes this version worth a go are the various notes and commentary from not only this curator but from various observers throughout history. It's nice to put the original verses in context. That is not to say that you won't see the bias of this latest commentator or that you won't sometimes feel like you can do without it, but the fact is the original text is so old you would need adjunct material anyway. Like the title says, if you can do it like I will, you'll read the intro after finishing the book. There's enough commentary to render it unnecessary unless you like that sort of thing

I think it was just this version, but the translation was confusing. Always jumping between who's speaking, very convoluted. It took me awhile to get through this as it was so boring. However, it did have some golden nuggets of good information.

This is a great version for students who wish to have a more in depth description of the passages. Most of this book is the authors own view and background on the events as well as descriptions of the footnotes. If you wish to just read the book there are other free versions available. I personally keep this version for when I have questions on the passages or wish a more in-depth description.

I don't know why people say they have a hard time grasping the concept of this book. It seemed fairly straightforward to me. I guess when people hear the book is Chinese, they think spiritualism, religion, metaphysics, etc. This has nothing to do with that. It's a straight up book on how to wage war. I agree, it does get kind of hard to read, as the author continually stops in the middle of a sentence to explain how what he was just describing was actually used in war, then it picks right back up again. I found myself having to keep going back to re-read the previous paragraph to get back into the story. A tough read, but everything seemed reasonable to me.

Would be good if not for the notes that I find entirely useless and annoying.

A great book that straightened any crease I had on the war shirt.

Good read n very influential

The book, in of itself, is a true classic. The critical notes, however, often got in the way and distracted me from the point of the text. This rude interruption occurred far too often... Wish I could find a less "noted" version.

Read the title

The book contains what is written by Sun Tzu, but the added text and references made it harder to stay focused on one thing. Some of the references I found useful as examples, however, most were so long, I had trouble keeping up with the book itself. While I enjoyed the book itself, the little annoyances keep me from truly marveling in the true majesty that is the Art of War.

I appreciate the secondary author's attempt to clarify or expand upon the reader's knowledge of Sun Tzu's writing, but his commentary is more often then not detrimental to the understanding of the reader. There are very few unedited passages of the original manuscript, and the unedited passages are usually irrelevant and provide no insight to the philosophy of war.

Overall, I would consider this more of a reference guide rather than source material.

I'm 11 and I have read this book many times, but for some reason I can't stop taking a retake on it, one day I'll understand a decision the next I have a different perspective. This book is highly captivating and depends much on perspective as a factor to the way you read.

Excellent principles to guide leaders engaged in war, as well as coaches who lead teams in tough competitions. Quite a number of these principles apply to sports coaching. For sport competition is war without guns!

I feel like after reading this I seem to interpret things differently in a good way, amazing read!

This was truly an interesting read. I would recommend this book for anyone willing to use tactful knowledge in their everyday life, not for malicious use.

I read the book and found it a bit confusing. The different names from one passage to the next and not knowing who said what and in what context ... I was excited to read it but not what I expected.

War has never been a big topic in my conversations; however, after I read this book, I realize life is a war.

Although some of the notes on original text might seem boring and repetitive, the book perfectly captures and easily interprets Sun Tzu's writings to every reader. A must read for anyone eager to understand "strategy of life" and its consequences.

Would've been better without the commentary but it was still very good

This was a very good translation in addition to being an interesting and thoughtful read, the commentary was at many times unnecessary though

This has too many notes and side comments--so much so that over half of the text is side notes!! I downloaded this to read the actual book, not some annoying translator or historian's interpretation and clarifications. Misleading title because it doesn't actually state that you'll have to swim through an extra 200 pages of "related notes" or whatever. Deleting and finding a better more true-to-text copy so I can use my own brain instead of having someone else pop in to interrupt the text lol

This is a roughly translated version, although the information is printed the translator/author produces their insights and verbiage which should've been reserved for the epilogue.

Written for any age of warfare.

Great

This book was excellent. To think that the principles Sun Tsu put forth 500 years B.C. Are still totally applicable is boggling. The explanations of the translations got a little heavier than needed but I believe it was to demonstrate the thoroughness of the research into this timeless classic.

Read this with the reflection of history. You will understand why somany failed while others susceeded.

If you like tons of side notes and over explanation of every sentence this copy is for you

ok

Deleted the book and got the other one too many side notes

Too many supporting references for every chapter. I rapidly found myself leafing thru each chapter to bypass the explanations by other Chinese historians/warlords. Not as interesting as I had hoped.

This version was long and drawn out by the rewriting author, not to mention annoying. Sun Tzu would be disappointed that his work was destroyed like this.

Let me read this first

Great book!

Este livro é muito interessante. O melhor é que só tem 13 capítulos e, estes, são bem sucintos. Em menos de duas horas eu li o livro todo, enquanto esperava minha prima e a amiga dela se arrumarem para irmos pro carnaval de rua.

Boring

It sucked...boring honestly

Do not read

I think the contents of this book should be kept in it's original context. The interpretation of the context should depends on the reader not the author. Also I think the extra information is unnecessary, and disorganized the content of the book.

The book itself is amazing and can be applied to many aspects of life but the notes that were placed throughout the book really hurt

The reading experience. About half the book is notes and half is the actual art of war.

Almost didn't get to the good stuff because the preface was ridiculously boring.

Great book cant stop reading it and im not such a big fan of reading but i love this book

I was excited to get this book on my iPad, especially considering it was free. However, the author wrote this book so that every few sentences are interrupted, as well as the pace of reading. I would have appreciated a copy of this book without the unnecessary commentary, and then perhaps another version which did. That way, I could read the book the whole way through, and then read the commentary version if I did not understand certain aspects.

Very good book, I have 2 copy's of it. (ebook, and paperback). I highly recommend it for ages 13-14 and up.

I heard about this book from "The Son of Neptune" and I have to admit, it's pretty cool

This may be the best English translation available and it certainly has extensive and insightful notes, but there are so many notes, and the format makes it nearly impossible to just read Sun Tzu's work. Because the notes are inserted directly into the text, they break up the flow and are in some cass difficult to distinguish from the main text. Giles not only provides his own notes, but he comments on the notes of other commentators throughout history, and it becomes very muddled. You will sometimes read pages at time without reading any of Sun Tzu's words. And of course there are all kinds of typos in the notes, and I'm sorry, but ebook or not, that's unacceptable. I'm going to find a different version so I can just read what Sun Tzu wrote, and I will refer to this version if I have questions about particular passages. For students I think this would be a great version to have on hand. And it's free, so there's that.

A great book on riches full of great thoughts and ideas. I highly reading this book at sometime. Excellent!!!

I found it hard to read between [notes] left by co-authors. There were too many. And frankly I would rather read what was written originally (and try to find meaning myself), than to read what this author thinks Sun Tzu meant.

Notes aside The Art of War is still the Art of War

This is the best book I have ever read.

I am 14 and while I understand the book and its concept, I felt that the author's commentary got into the way. In many places, the commentary was just rambling and had little place in this book.

Good book

The book is very good, however, the commentary just gets in the way.

What this book really is can be summed up by saying it is a history lesson written around the art of war.

In this case, you have to decide, learn from the art of war or the commentary.

This is a great book. Sun tzu was a thinker that could rival today's best. The commentary complemented the book very well. I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it as it stretches your mind and is s great book to read in your spare time.

The book had lots of notes and side stories blurred what sun tzu was saying. There would be three or four sentences of his work on a page with the rest relating to notes on the work. To some the notes may be helpful, I found them annoying.

The best book

To many notes buts it's free better then pay a dollar

All i know is that Pac read this when he was alive. Anything that man reads, i say was interesting. Very informative book.

The book is absoloutely amazing and something EVERYONE should read...however all the notes are rediculous they could easily be cut down he turned 200 iphone pages into 560 you read one passage then get a few paragraphs of information...never the less it is free so its hard to complain

The translator often got off topic with other war stories that distracted you from the actual text. Other that that, a true classic

if ur 13 years old dont expect to understand it. and to me the commentating helped a lot. this whole book can be easily attributed to many parts of life, not just war. awesome read

The translator here did a very good job, humbly deferring to previous commentators on the text and leaving copious notes to explain when he deviates from their interpretations. Some reviewers suggest these notes should have been separated from the main text, but without intimate knowledge of ancient China they are necessary for a clear understanding, and the anecdotes therein beautifully illustrate Sun Tzu's meanings. An excellent read!

For anyone that has to interact with people, groups or deliver ideas into a setting in an adversarial environment - this is a must READ! Understanding some of the most primordial settings and how to deal with them is of utmost importance if you are trying to lead or deliver an idea. Socialiologically, people have not changed over time. The teachings here, are of value now as when they were written. I can understand why this has been a must read for so many in the field of business. Understanding these age old concepts will benefit those that learn from them. It places me on my guard, as to wonder - who else has read these words and employed them? This has helped me with the concepts of patience and tolerance. Now, I know that I have to let my adversary display his position prior to me exposing my posture. A great read that lets you see the need of both offense and defense, when trying to accomplish a goal!

Dr. T.S. Brodar - rural Delphi, IN

This would be a good book if you could actually read the thing straight through. It is in the style of an original sentence or two then a whole paragraph or two of commentary that I really don't care about. The commentary ruins this book.

Book was very interesting. A better editing job would have made it more readable.

This book teaches me well, though a good some of text dose not look original. Though not a hinderance 5 stars because it's free

I'm 14 and found this book to be interesting but there were a few parts of this book I found confusing.

The book was very good. The only complaint I would have with it is that it would better with footnotes, rather than having the reference information in the middle of sentences.

Pretty good especially for free.

a book with lots of wisdom

Awsome book

Awsome!!!

It's hard to figure out wat itt means but it is pretty good

This is my all time favorite book would recomend

Great book!

It was ok

This book if applied correctly could solve a lot of problems

Awesome

I love this book i readed it and it seemed like a call of duty game but anyway i recommend this book for ages

This book would be useful in any war in any time period. Very awesome connections.

I like it :)

This book has everything in it from the ORIGINAL art of war. If it has the author- sun tzu, then it is the real deal. This book is extremely accurate and almost like a story. I highly recommend this book!

I have heard a lot about this book. So gave it a shot and don't regret it. This book goes beyond war. You can adapt a lot of what you read here to life. I enjoyed it.

Whilst you can get multiple versions of The Art of War, this is a definite addition to your library.

Wicked