Sun Tzu
~544–496 BCE · Chinese (Wu) · Spring and Autumn Period, Ancient China
Known for: Author of The Art of War—history's most influential military treatise
Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War—the most widely read military treatise in history, studied by everyone from Napoleon to Wall Street traders to NFL coaches. The 13-chapter work covers strategy, terrain, espionage, and the philosophy of warfare.
Whether Sun Tzu was a single historical person or a composite is debated. Tradition holds he was a general serving King Helu of Wu who proved his theories by training the king's concubines into a disciplined military unit, beheading two of them to establish authority.
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