The Art of War

This short Chinese military treatise, traditionally ascribed to the late Spring and Autumn strategist Sun-Tzu and circulating in a stable form by the early imperial period, is arranged in thirteen brief chapters on estimates, terrain, fire, spies, and the use of force. The speaker treats war as a matter of information, deception, supply, and knowing when not to fight. Victory is preferred when it is cheap; prolonged siege and wasted troops are faults. The work is a handbook of command, not a narrative of particular campaigns and not a memoir of a single battle. Later commentators attached historical examples, but the core text remains impersonal counsel to a general.

Quarter-bound in black cloth with gold crushed silk sides blocked with yellow Chinese calligraphy drawn by Xiaoming Sun. Gold endleaves. Black slipcase.