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The Art of War
The Art of War is 54,911 words — about 3h 40m at 250 words per minute, across 21 chapters. Measure your own speed and read it free, here.
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How it opens
When Lionel Giles began his translation of Sun Tzŭ’s _Art of War_, the work was virtually unknown in Europe. Its introduction to Europe began in 1782 when a French Jesuit Father living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated it into French. It was not a good translation because, according to Dr. Giles, "[I]t contains a great deal that Sun Tzŭ did not write, and very little indeed of what he did.…
Details
- AuthorSun Tzu
- SourceProject Gutenberg #132
- Length54,911 words · 3h 40m of reading
- Chapters21
- DictionaryIncluded
- CopyrightPublic domain in the United States
- Source checked2026-08-02
Contents
21 chapters
Recovered from the original source text, so you can open the book at any of them.
- 01Preface to the Project Gutenberg Etext
- 02Preface by Lionel Giles
- 03Sun Wu and his Book
- 04The Text of Sun Tzŭ
- 05The Commentators
- 06Appreciations of Sun Tzŭ
- 07Apologies for War
- 08Bibliography
- 09Chapter I. LAYING PLANS
- 10Chapter II. WAGING WAR
- 11Chapter III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM
- 12Chapter IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS
- 13Chapter V. ENERGY
- 14Chapter VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG
- 15Chapter VII. MANŒUVERING
- 16Chapter VIII. VARIATION OF TACTICS
- 17Chapter IX. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH
- 18Chapter X. TERRAIN
- 19Chapter XI. THE NINE SITUATIONS
- 20Chapter XII. THE ATTACK BY FIRE
- 21Chapter XIII. THE USE OF SPIES
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