The Art of War is a philosophical book that teaches the tricks and tips to follow during war. It contains a detailed guide necessary to follow in war as a tactic. Further, the book teaches readers about war deception steps and intellectual actions. Here is a detailed summary of The Art of War by Sun tzu summary and review.
Author
Sun Tzu was a Chinese writer who was born in 544 BC and had a great thought captivating work on military strategy. This book is highly loved by military individuals.
This book tells you the things that are a must for a leader. It emphasizes the worth of the art of war by saying it’s vital for life and it’s a matter of life and death.
The Art of War Sun Tzu Summary
This book has 13 chapters each having unique lessons. Here I summarized all the points from those chapters for your compliance. Here is ‘The Art of War Sun Tzu summary”.
Chapter 1
Laying Plans
The first chapter starts by telling about the warfare and things necessary for it:
Here are 5 factors:
Moral law
It includes how the population follows their ruler. It’s necessary for a ruler to have a loyal population.
Heaven
It’s related to surrounding changes like seasons, daytime, and weather mostly.
Earth
It mostly describes the distances
Commander
He’s the leader who must be intellectual, brave, and full of belief.
Method and discipline
It describes the basic framework of the army like its structure and the whole system. If it’s going well, then winning is the result for such a leader.
This chapter further elucidates on deception in war like how we can use our enemy according to our will. For example, if the enemy thinks we’re strong, appear as weak and deceive him. This trick has helped many rulers from the past and it’s best to attack enemies.
Chapter 2
Waging War
This part of the book describes why it’s important to attack quickly and how delay of war leads to calamity(expenditure).
- Further, the writer shared a good strategy for treating the captures with kindness.
- Also, emphasize the worth of bringing food in war.
Chapter 3
Attack by Stratagem
The author shares the thought I loved that the supreme thing is to break enemy strength without fighting and this can be achieved by making firm and wise decisions.
He also discussed the worst strategy is to besiege the old walled cities as leads to loss. Try to attack your rivals in open places like grounds and separate them from the allies.
A good general has the following things:
- Know when to attack
- He fights when he gets equal force and tries to stay behind if he meets a superior rival
- A good general tries to prepare himself before his foe
- He thinks via his enemy’s point of view
- He knows how to control his nerves or temper
Chapter 4
Tactical dispositions
Try to give an opportunity to the enemy, so he’ll make some bad move and you can destroy them. This area tells how a good soldier prefers to make his defense strong from defeat. Try to follow plans before taking action in the war. Here are some points for effective and great planning:
- Know the enemy’s strength
- Measure the rival chances against you
- Find your winning chances on the battlefield
Chapter 5
Energy
This chapter discussed how one can utilize his energy best by dominating over the foe. The chapter shares the direct and indirect tactics of warfare. A clever combatant believes in unity and combined strength rather than relying on individual and that is what makes him great on the battlefield.
- Moreover organized military can be a great tool for tackling foes.
Chapter 6
Weak and strong points
This chapter starts by telling about getting control of the war ground. For example author said that one who reaches early will get victory and he’ll be the freshest one in the war.
When I was reading this book, this was my best chapter as he shared how he tried to attack the rival that he didn’t expect. Try to attack on him by showing yourself as weak. Act as a single body and destroy your enemy. Understand the weak spot of the enemy and make your weakness your strength in war.
Chapter 7
Maneuvering
The chapter starts by describing how unity has an impact on victory. Never allow soldiers to march for so long as this is going to make them tired and weak.
Maneuvering is described as when a general ponders before making decisions or moves. Try to understand the war ground and the routes.
Chapter 8
Variation in Tactics
This area is mostly inspirational for the leaders. Sun Tzu shared his views about generals that the ones who understand and know how to control their army are going to be triumphant.
He shared the five things that can bring chaos or simply defeat:
- Recklessness of general(defeat will occur)
- Cowardice(meaning he can’t handle situations)
- Temper or anger issues
- Delicacy(too sensitive)
- Over solitude(this brings excess worry)
Chapter 9
The Army on March
This part discussed themes related to marching. Try to get hilly sites as places that face the sun. If you’re interested in war tips, you know the worth of all this.
- The author used very interesting examples by saying how birds flying can be an omen of ambush.
Chapter 10
Terrain
This chapter elucidates the kinds of terrain:
Accessible ground
It’s the ground that both parties try to get. It leads to victory.
Entangling ground
It’s the one that is tiresome to get back once one army loses control of this ground.
Temporizing ground
This ground ain’t being any pros to both sides.
Narrow passes
It’s the ground where one army should deny entry if it’s already occupied.
Precipitous heights
It includes views like getting sunny spots and hilly areas.
Try to maintain distance from the enemy and think about what to do according to the condition.
Chapter 11
The 9 Situations
Sun Tzu in this area discussed terrain and 9 types of it:
Dispersive ground
- It’s like fighting for the homeland.
Facile ground
- It included when we entered a little bit area of enemy territory.
Contentious ground
- This type of ground offers equal pros to both sides.
Open ground
- Full freedom to both sides.
Intersecting Ground
- It contains land that separates two enemies.
Serious ground
- It is the one when one enemy enters deep into rival territory.
Difficult ground
- It includes forests, cliffs, etc
Hemmed in ground
- This is the ground that can be easily accessible for the enemy to attack by using narrow passes.
Desperate ground
- It’s the one ground where you can fight with your rival and the victory appears to you if you know how to handle the situation.
The author shared some skillful leaders’ insights:
- Throw soldiers in front, so they prefer to fight
- He seizes what the enemy likes
- Always a keen observer
Chapter 12
Attack by Fire
This second last chapter elaborates on how fire can be used as a weapon to defeat the enemy. Sun Tzu shared some tips:
- Burn camps and stores
- Burn arrows across rival lines
- Use fire according to weather(prefer summer)
Fire deceives the enemy of the strength and this strategy has been used for centuries.
Chapter 13
Use of Spies
Sun Tzu elucidates how one army can rely on sly information. If you study history, many of the Kingdoms had experienced downfall because of spies hired by rivals.
Sun Tzu highlighted five types of spies in The Art of War:
- Local spies: Mostly they reside in normal areas or territory
- Inward spies: They reside within the army
- Converted spy: They work for us and send us information
- Doomed spy: They shared our messages openly. For example, they share false information in front of rivals and deceive them to tame some mistaken action
- Surviving spies: They bring information from enemy camps.
Review of The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Art Of War by Sun Tzu was great to read especially the chapter that introduced me to how fire had been used in the past and can be a trick to deceive and defeat the rival.
- I loved the concept where the author shared his views on how discipline in the army brings confidence in soldiers.
The book isn’t lengthy and you can read it in less than an hour. To be honest, it wasn’t that boring as some parts of the book fascinated me except(for chapter 5).
If you’re interested in reading books on war tactics and tricks, I think this is gonna be the suitable choice for you. This book has some great quotes related to war(Read).
- For self-help books, novels, and short stories reviews, visit.
Conclusion: The Art of War Sun Tzu Summary
In a nutshell, The Art of War by Sun Tzu is really for those who have a type of mindset. If you want to learn some tips related to war management, this is for you.
- If you had loved our view.Share