The Wiles Of War: 36 Military Strategies From Ancient China

There can never be too much deception in war, so goes a familiar Chinese maxim. Deception constitutes a main topic in every ancient Chinese classic on military strategy. However, it is uncommon for a book to deal almost exclusively on deceptive schemes, as in Secret Art of War: Thirty-Six Strategies. Written by an anonymous scholar about three hundred years ago the book did not see publication until 1940s. Since then, it has attracted the attention of military authorities and general readers alike. In addition to the precise translation of the ancient work, The Wiles of War provides for each of the thirty-six strategies the Chinese text, a lucid explanation, quotations for reference from other military classics, and the account of an ancient battle featuring the successful application of the strategy. The reader will have an opportunity to grasp the essence of ancient Chinese warcraft by reading some of the epoch-making battles in ancient China. Bilingual bibliography and index.