<p> Written over two millennia ago in China, <em>The Art of War</em> is the first known rational treatise on the planning and conduct of military operations.&nbsp;It's author, Sun Tzu, was a Chinese strategist who lived between 554-496 BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period of the Middle Kingdom's turbulent history.&nbsp;</p><p> </p><p>Dr. Lionel Giles published his classic translation of <em>Art of War</em> in 1910, when he was Keeper of the British Museum's Department of Oriental Manuscripts.&nbsp;Complete with Preface, Introduction and abundant Footnotes, the work has never been bettered, and succeeds brilliantly in placing Sun Tzu's masterpiece in its true historical and cultural context.</p><p> </p><p>Concise and aphoristic in style, <em>The Art of War</em> represents the distilled wisdom of a great commander - limning strategies and ploys that men of later generations, including Mao Tse Tung and Ho Chi Minh, have used with great success.</p><p><br></p>