Written more than 2,500 years ago, The Art of War is a military treatise. Sun-tzu’s collection of precepts on strategic warfare has yet to be surpassed. More than 2,500 years ago, a Chinese commander, Master Sun – or Sun-tzu – collected together his precepts on generalship to form the kernel of a military treatise. The understanding of strategic warfare that comes out of his writings has yet to be surpassed. Eschewing conventional courage and military might as primary deciding factors, The Art of War is characterised by an emphasis on moderation, imagination, good morale and scrupulous forward planning. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong and General Douglas MacArthur claimed to have drawn inspiration from the work, and its influence infiltrated popular culture as modern thinkers recognised that its fundamental philosophies apply as much to gaining a competitive edge in day-to-day life as they do to the battlefield.