The Art of War

Two thousand five hundred years old and still on the most-recommended business book lists. That says something about the universality of its principles — or about the ease with which anything can be applied to any context. The original text is brief and aphoristic; the difficulty lies in interpretation. It is not a management manual but a text about the nature of conflict and advantage. To be read slowly and with scepticism toward anyone who cites it as definitive authority.