The Art of War,  by Sun-Tzu       Translated by Ralph D. Sawyer

Barnes & Noble Books, 1994

" The wise and just ruler, discovering a scribe or crier in publication of martial wisdom of which he has neither knowledge  nor  witness, orders the deceiver's life forfeit."

Sun-Tzu would, I'm certain, wholeheartedly endorse this pearl although it was composed some 24 centuries after his death by somebody who is not even Chinese. 

Me.

Sun-Tzu and Clausewitz : quoted by all dilettante journalists and commentators, read by none.  For that reason I took the time and trouble to read them both.

Here, then, is  the obligatory quote from The Art of War, from which you may adduce my sagacity and, perhaps, have a nervous glance at my temperament:

            " There are five types of incendiary attack: The first is to incinerate men, the second to incinerate provisions, the third to

               incinerate supply trains, the fourth to incinerate armories, and the fifth to incinerate formations."

Timeless wisdom. What can one possibly add ?  Human nature has no history, history is the history of technology. Well, then, perhaps a sixth type of incendiary attack is now worthy of consideration, one that makes reference to network anchorpersons.

This is a perfectly serviceable edition with a reasonably digestible introduction. One startling flaw became apparent as I flipped the pages in search of a datum I required for this review, and could not find it before losing patience and searching the web: nowhere, as far as I can tell, is it revealed in simple Julian format just  when it was that The Art of War was written.

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