[.ca] Mastering the Art of War (ISBN 1590302648)

Understanding the Book you are Reviewing:
I can see from the other reviews of this book that those who rated it poorly had a basic misunderstanding of What they were reading. It seems that several folks were under the impression that they were reading Sun Tzu's " The Art Of War". Perhaps before attempting to read a book you should attemp to learn how to read. You WILL find differances between Sun Tzu's book And Zhuge Liang's. Zhuge Liang wasquitea differant person than Sun Tzu. For insights into what kind of a person you should read Chronicles of the three Kingdoms and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. You'll find that Zhuge does not enjoy war quite as much as sun Tzu but he is just as good(Id say Better).

Great reading:
I liked the qualities of the general section of this book. For those who are looking for some insight that applies to today's world, you can find some gems here. I read The Art of War translated by Griffith and think that this is much better. The commentary is easier to follow and is presented well. The book gives examples of the principles it talks about from The Three Kingdoms but doesnt always give the names of the people that it talks about. So for readers familiar with the Three Kindoms this can be a little disappointing. Otherwise its a good book to read.

Who knew this book was out there?:
I must confess, I was ignorant that any of the great warlord Zhuge Liang's work still existed today. Imagine my surprise then, in typing the name into Amazon and coming up with this work. Needless to say, the price was right, and so I ordered it. I was not disappointed! While I cannot say that Zhuge Liang did not lift his thoughts from another more ancient writer (I am certainly not the scholar of Chinese literature that I claim to be!), nonetheless, his thoughts are quite clear on the right (and more importantly, WRONG) ways of leading an army, and indeed, these words can be applied to other situations. In particular, pay attention to the essay "The virtues and faults of the great general", which I think is a lesson for ANY walk of life. Also, the writing of Liu Pi are collected here, but I must say that the reader probably wants familiarity with the intrigues of the "Three Kingdoms" at this point. Still, with so many nuggets of wisdom to be found, and at this price, you would be foolish not to pick this up, and three kingdom fans may also broaden their own knowledge.

Biased, and agenda-ridden:
I believe Amazon does a disservice to customers by failing to note that this is a Shambhala Dragon Edition by Shambhala Press. Noted for their New Age and leftist interpretations, "Mastering The Art Of War" will not fail to disappoint those seeking a biased interpretation of the Sun Tzu classic, with the leftist agenda of Thomas Cleary showing throughout the work. In its purest form, TAOW is a brilliant distillation of martial strategies for resolution of physical and non-physical conflict. In contrast to seminal examples such as S.B. Griffith's translation (Oxford Press) which is insightful yet objective, Cleary begins almost immediately pursuing a pacifist interpretation; initial chapters find him calling upon social justice perspectives from Mozi, Mencius, and Cheng Yi. Later chapters show less ecidence of Cleary's political bias, owing perhaps to the inability to spin and interpret Sun's work without obvious modification. In the end however, this interpretation disappoints and the reader would be better served by seeking a more academic and objective translation.

An excellent study in leadership & strategy:
The Chinese have been studying leadership almost two millenia before it became a popular management topic in the West. In the first chapter of "The Art of War", Sun Tzu already recognised leadership as one of 5 factors that determines a nation's strategic success. Zhuge Liang has substantial authority to espouse on the subject - he is the most capable ( and feared ) strategist in China's turbulent era of Three Kingdoms. Cleary has put forth Zhuge's thoughts in a clear and concise manner.