Author Description

This is a collection of seven classics works of war and politics and include: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu; "The Analects" by Confucius; "The Arthashastra" by Chanakya (Kautilya); "The Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius; "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli; "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi; and "The Hagakure" by Yamamoto Tsunetomo.This is an international collection, with two books from China, one from India, two from Europe, and two from Japan. The books also span over 2,000 years of history. Some of these books are focused mainly on war and military science (Art of War, Book of Five Rings, Hagakure), others are more self-reflective and develop an ethical philosophy (Analects, Meditations), and others still are focused more on politics and ruling (Arthashastra, The Prince). All have transcended their times and are seen as classics that are worth of study and fully relevant for today.Each of these works provides a unique and historical perspective regarding these topics, and they complement each other in tracing deep insight into the nature of leadership, war, and politics.The editing process reduces the repetition and unnecessary commentary and cruft, and clarifies what is essential and insightful in the works using modern English prose. This process is an abridgement: "condensing or reduction of a book or other creative work into a shorter form while maintaining the unity of the source."The goal of this project is to produce a collection of works with clear and modern English that showcases the timeless insights which these classics have within them.