I am grateful to my friend Thomas Huynh, founder of Sonshi, for the head’s up about Robert Gates‘s appearance o0n CBS 60 Minutes during which he indicates his high regard for Sun Tzu and his classic work, The Art of War.
You can watch Katie Couric’s entire interview of US Secretary of Defense Gates (a student of Sun Tzu), but especially at 13:00 and 14:00. Please click here.
Thomas Huynh
In 1999, Thomas Huynh founded Sonshi.com, the Web’s most respected resource on Art of War. It now consists of a network of authors, scholars, and readers around the world, attracted from various disciplines and joined together by a common interest in Sun Tzu’s classic study of strategy. He is a seasoned business executive and nonprofit board member who earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He was named in BusinessWeek magazine’s “Top 12 Most Engaged Reader-Contributors of 2008.” Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Huynh now resides with his wife and child in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. As a war refugee, he seeks to put an end to warfare by affirming the practical ideals published in his book, The Art of War — Spirituality for Conflict.
I urge you to check out the wealth of resources at the Sonshi website, including the rare interview of Thomas Cleary. In my opinion, Cleary is the pre-eminent scholar and author of more than 80 books that examine classic Asian sources for concepts of leadership, management, and strategy. To do so, please click here.
Dear Robert,
I would also like to bring your attention to this excellent self-published book about Sun Tzu.
It is THE ART OF WAR APPLIED TO WALL STREET. http://www.artofwaronwallstreet.com/
The author devotes the first part of the book to applying the Art of War principles to dealing with the Stock Market.
The second part of the book is a remarkable, new translation of The Art of War. Mr. Wong, the author, is a Chinese man who grew up in an environment where the Art of War was an ongoing topic of discussion.
With all due respect to all the other translations, including the Lionel Giles translation that everyone else derives from, Mr. Wong was able to sift through the real meaning of the archaic Chinese of the the original (which is included in the book).
There are some insights in his translation that just are not to be found anywhere else.
At the end of the book is a summary of all of Sun Tzu’s concepts, as well as a section that discusses famous battles and why they were won or lost based on the principles.
I helped Mr. Wong present his insights in English.
If you click on the website provided, you will find there is a weekly blog where Mr. Wong makes commentary on current events in the the light of A of W., as well as links to purchase the book.
I would love to have the book included on Mr. Hyynh’s website, so perhaps if you really like it, you could make that recommendation.
I honestly do not know why there are no references to this book on Sonshi.com.
I suggest you contact Mr. Huyhn directly and make that recommendation to him.