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Deciphering Sun Tzu

How to Read the Art of War
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( 49 ratings, 4 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Deciphering Sun Tzu by Derek M. C. Yuen offers an in-depth exploration of the profound historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts surrounding The Art of War. Yuen reveals the Taoist and Chinese statecraft foundations underpinning Sun Tzu's strategic thought, presenting it as a holistic, nonlinear approach relevant to both ancient and modern times. The book compares Sun Tzu's ideas with Western strategists like Clausewitz and Liddell-Hart, providing fresh insight into Chinese strategic traditions amid the contemporary rise of China.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Deciphering Sun Tzu is ideal for readers interested in military history, Chinese philosophy, and cross-cultural strategic studies. It suits academics, military professionals, and anyone eager to understand the broader significance of Sun Tzu beyond conventional war strategy interpretations.

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A revealing insight in to the hidden contours of Chinese strategic thought

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

As the People's Republic's seemingly inexorable rise to economic and military power continues, never has the need for a better grasp of Chinese strategic thought by the West been more acute. In Deciphering Sun Tzu, Derek Yuen seeks to reclaim for the reader the hidden contours and lost Chinese and Taoist contexts of Sun Tzu's renowned treatise The Art of War, a literary classic and arguably one of the most influential books ever written. He also explains its historical, philosophical, strategic, and cross-cultural significance. His comprehensive analysis of Sun Tzu, based on close reading of the Chinese sources, also reconstructs the philosophy, Taoist methodology and worldview that effectively form the cornerstones of Chinese strategic thinking, which are arguably as relevant today as at any moment in history.

Yuen's innovative reading and analysis of Sun Tzu within and from a Chinese context is a new way of approaching the strategic master's main concepts, which he compares with those of Clausewitz, Liddell-Hart and other Western strategists. Deciphering Sun Tzu offers illuminating analysis and contextualisation of The Art of War in a manner that has long been sought by Western readers and opens new means of getting to grips with Chinese strategic thought.

Deciphering Sun Tzu is by far the best book on the subject in years. ... Yuen argues that the only way to read Sun Tzu is to understand the philosophical, historical, and cultural context behind The Art of War. ... Yuen's work reveals that Sun Tzu's treatise needs to be seen in the context of statecraft as a broader cultural artifact rather than in the narrower context of war or strategy.

'Yuen puts Sun Tzu in context, identifying his debts to Chinese philosophy (particularly Taoism), providing historical background, guiding the reader through the key themes in his work, explaining common interpretations of it, and detailing its reception in the West. Yuen presents Sun Tzu's view of strategic thought as holistic and nonlinear. This is not a book for the faint-hearted or for those sceptical about Sun Tzu's approach to strategy. But anyone who wishes to understand Sun Tzu should not ignore it.' - Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781787387232

Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 24 February 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 240

About the Author

Derek M.C. Yuen has a PhD in Strategic Studies from the University of Reading. Based in Hong Kong, his research focuses on the strategic thought of Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu and Mao Zedong, with a view to developing more accurate readings of Chinese strategy and China itself.

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