If you are interested in understanding the foundation of the Chinese strategic culture, we recommended Dr. Ralph D. Sawyer latest book, Ancient Chinese Warfare. It will be in your local book store or at your favorite e-commerce site on the 1st of March 2011.
You can also pre-order this book from Amazon.
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Following is an editorial review from Publishers Weekly:
Sawyer, a leading scholar of Chinese warfare and fellow at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, is best known for his comprehensively edited translations of classical military writings. His latest analytical work is no less significant. It begins in the prehistoric period and continues through the fifth century B.C.E., an era traditionally described as one of stability, almost idyllic compared to the two-century warring states period that followed. Sawyer instead demonstrates through archeological evidence, traditional accounts, and convincing interpretations of inscriptions that conflict in China became increasingly complex, lethal, and decisive during the Hsia and Shang dynasties. Armies became structured forces with bureaucratized logistics. Warrior values were integrated into mainstream cultures. Sawyer's analysis ranges from the evolution of fortification, through the metallurgical innovations behind improved weapons, to the technologies and animal husbandry that enabled the chariots that became ancient China's signature. Warfare, says Sawyer, stimulated innovation, social change, and material progress. It also destroyed the peace and security of communities, then peoples, absorbed into ever-larger political systems sustained by force. Ancient China, shaped by its wars, was firmly set on "a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity." Illus. (Mar.)
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Following is the table of contents from this book:
Preface
1 Preliminary Orientations and Legendary Conflicts
2 Ancient Fortifications, I
3 Ancient Fortifications, II
4 The Hsia
5 Warfare in the Hsia
6 The Shang Dynasty
7 Shang Capitals, Citadels, and Fortifications
8 Chaos, Contraction, and Resurgence
9 King Wu Ting, I
10 King Wu Ting, II
11 The Last Reigns
12 The Shang Martial Edifice
13 Troops, Intelligence, and Tactics
14 Metallurgical Evolution in China
15 Early Weapons and the Axe
16 Knives, Daggers, and Swords
17 The Ko or Dagger-axe
18 Spears and Armor
19 Ancient Archery
20 The Chariot in China
21 The Horse in China
You can read more information about this book by clicking here.
Some of our associates get some of their unique "strategic and tactical" ideas from reading many of Sawyer's classics. If you are a "strategy and tactics" aficionado, we highly recommend all of his books.
Thanks. It's on my wish list.
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