Author(s): Sun Tzu & James Clavell (foreword)

Business

In the fifth century BC, Sun Tzu wrote: In peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace. The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death. A road either to safety or ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected... In the twentieth century I truly believe that if our military and political leaders in recent times had studied this work of genius, Vietnam could not have happened as it happened; we would not have lost the war in Korea (we lost it because we did not achieve victory); the But of Pigs could not have occurred; the hostage fiasco in lran would not have come to pass; the British Empire would not have been dismembered; and, in all probability, World Wars I and II would have been avoided.