The Art of War
The Art of War by Sun Tzuby 孙武 (Sun Tzu)
Ranked 9 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
People recommend it as a short, timeless guide to strategy and leadership that is easy to read and still useful for explaining simple concepts to leaders.
People recommend it as a short, timeless guide to strategy and leadership that is easy to read and still useful for explaining simple concepts to leaders.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Timeless lessons on strategy and leadership
“Timeless lessons on strategy, leadership, and winning without unnecessary conflict.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 on Hacker News “is timeless and widely applicable”
Comment from 17 Nov 2025 in “Mysterious drones have been spotted at airports across Europe”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby 老子 and Yang Peng and Jordi Fibla and James Legge | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert M. Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Art of Warby 孙武 (Sun Tzu)This page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“AoW is one of the most important historical treatises”
“Situations like this show that it's still useful because sometimes you have leaders that need very simple concepts to be explained to them.”
“Timeless lessons on strategy, leadership, and winning without unnecessary conflict.”
“Just be sure to (re-)read your Sun Tzu and Clausewitz first”
“Sun Tzu is a requirement when dealing with China.”
“"The art of war" is an easy read”
“is timeless and widely applicable”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.