NOTE: Beware of PDFs as they can harbour nasties – anti-virus/spy/malware scan them!
Just in case anyone’s interested.
When looking for any version of the Art of War make sure to find one with commentaries otherwise you’ll most probably have to sit and meditate upon the meaning of anything you don’t understand for a few days, or weeks! The first book I bought had no commentaries and yes you were simply instructed to meditate upon the meaning until you understood. I went and bought another one with commentaries after that. Commentaries are vital to understanding but the no commentaries versions are good for a quick overview or refresher of the topics.
Look around as some versions have additional, more contemporary explanations of the commentaries to aid understanding.
Most freely available ones are translated by Dr. Lionel Giles in 1910. There are other translations such as by Samuel B. Griffiths (1963) and Thomas Cleary (1989).
https://web.mit.edu/~dcltdw/AOW/toc.html
This page will help in determining the best translation for you
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-English-translation-of-The-Art-of-War-by-Sunzi
This fellows personal opinion -
Thomas Cleary is the best translator of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu (book) PERIOD!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFCGxD1yRc
On the other hand in the quora page above is written ‘Some, such as Thomas Cleary — attempt to explain the text in a wider scope of “Eastern Philosophy”, though his version is not personally preferred by me, as I feel he casts his net too wide to allow truly deep study of the text.’
Actually, I found the Thomas Cleary translation in a box of books (freestuff) outside of what you might call a thrift store but haven’t read it yet so can’t offer a personal opinion on it. I’ve found such boxes always good for a look through as many women throw out books with topics which don’t generally resonate with the feminine mind.
Interestingly it has a page with a list of his translated books one of which is another 1989 translation titled Mastering the Art of War by Zhuge Liang & Liu Ji which are additional commentaries on the Art of War. Remember, commentaries are vital to understanding Sun Tsu.
The Art of War
Without Commentaries
Simple text page https://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html
https://www.idph.com.br/conteudos/ebooks/the-art-of-war.pdf
https://thevirtuallibrary.org/index.php/en/books/social-sciences/book/military-science-201/the-art-of-war-404
https://sites.ualberta.ca/~enoch/Readings/The_Art_Of_War.pdf
https://suntzusaid.com/download.php
https://www.sonshi.com/sun-tzu-art-of-war-translation-not-giles.html
With Commentaries
The Art of War by Dr. Lionel Giles, Puppet Press
https://www.puppetpress.com/classics/ArtofWarbySunTzu.pdf
Original book in virtual format V1.1
https://yeshuado-academy.com/resources/The%20Art%20of%20War%20%28Sun%20Tzu%29.pdf
A good clean version
https://www.idph.com.br/conteudos/ebooks/suntzu10.pdf
Mastering the Art of War by Zhuge Liang & Liu Ji
https://www.reddit.com/r/aznidentity/comments/4ony30/mastering_the_art_of_war_commentaries_by_zhuge/
(You’ll have to copy/paste and make your own document)
There’s also the Chinese Thirty-Six Strategies or Thirty-Six Stratagems and the Japanese Book of Five Rings.
The Chinese Thirty-Six Strategies
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1492/93/1492930287866.pdf
https://steve8988.homestead.com/files/36strategies.pdf
https://www.tangledwilderness.org/pdfs/36strategies-web.pdf
Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings
https://www.urbancombatives.com/uploads/MiyamotoMusashi-BookofFiveRings.pdf
I’m not going to lead you by the nose to every possible version/translation available. If you’re interested enough you’ll look for yourself.
Find the translation/format/font you like. Me, I prefer a physical book to carry about and read. The smaller texts like the ones immediately above can be easily printed out and stapled/clipped for bedtime perusal.)
"Those angry will be happy again and those wrathful will be cheerful again, but a destroyed nation cannot exist again, the dead cannot be brought back to life." Sun Tzu
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As for the concubines… they thought it was a game.
(This is Not a Game – Learn to Play the Game.)