The Book of War: The Military Classic of the Far East

Dating back to the late Spring and Autumn period of ancient China (roughly 5th century BCE), The Art of War is universally recognized as the world's oldest and most influential military treatise. Attributed to the legendary military strategist Sun Tzu (Master Sun), the text is composed of 13 succinct chapters, each dedicated to a distinct facet of statecraft, military strategy, and combat psychology. Rather than focusing on brute force, Sun Tzu’s philosophy hinges on Taoist principles of flexibility, deception, and subverting an enemy's plans before conflict even begins. For over a millennium, the text served as the cornerstone of East Asian military education, later formalized by Emperor Shenzong in 1080 as the lead text in the Seven Military Classics. Its profound concepts eventually migrated west, forever altering how global institutions analyze tactical competition.

While the text was first brought to Europe via a 1772 French translation by a Jesuit missionary, it did not appear fully in the English language until the early 20th century. Published by John Murray in London in 1908, the landmark edition titled The Book of War: The Military Classic of the Far East stands as the first complete British edition of Sun Tzu's work. Translated by Captain Everard Ferguson Calthrop of the Royal Field Artillery, this volume paired Sun Tzu’s 13 chapters with Wu Tzu, another foundational ancient Chinese military text. For rare book collectors, a true first edition of this translation—bound in its original gilt-stamped green cloth—is an exceedingly rare high-spot that marks the official introduction of Eastern strategic thought to the English-speaking world. 

Everard Ferguson Calthrop (1876–1915) was a highly educated British army officer whose unique military assignments perfectly positioned him to translate this ancient text. In the early 1900s, Calthrop was sent to Tokyo as a military attaché and language student, where he became fascinated by the battlefield philosophy that had fueled Japan's shocking victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Recognizing that Western military academies were completely blind to Eastern doctrines, Calthrop self-funded his linguistic studies to translate Sun Tzu's manuscript, intending to provide the British Empire with a crucial strategic tool before a major global conflict erupted. Tragically, Calthrop would not live to see the global impact of his work; serving as a Commander during World War I, he was killed in action in France in 1915, leaving behind a pioneering translation that paved the way for modern military intelligence. 

Today, The Art of War has transcended its original martial context to become a ubiquitous manual for conflict resolution and high-stakes strategy across a multitude of fields. Though subsequent sinologists like Lionel Giles critiqued Calthrop's early linguistic accuracy, his publication permanently broke the ice for the text in the West. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the book has been famously studied by military leaders from Napoleon to General Douglas MacArthur, and it remains required reading at institutions like West Point. Beyond the battlefield, its core maxims—such as "supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting"—have been heavily adopted by corporate executives, legal strategists, sports coaches, and diplomats, cementing Sun Tzu's 2,500-year-old advice as an immortal blueprint for human competition.

Original Green Cloth binding. Red boarder to upper board and gilt lettering to board and spine. Markng on rear board. Some spotting internally and offsetting to pp 104-5. Inscription from the translator to solicitor Joe George Calthrop, the brother of Calthrop’s artistic father Claude Andrew Calthrop Lieutenant-Colonel Everad Ferguson Calthrop (1876-1915): “To Uncle Joe, with love from Everard, 11.11.08.” Near fine condition.