Which edition / publisher / author ?

[Pcell]

Hello!

I was planning to buy Sun Tsu's classic "The Art of War" but I unfortunately get confused due to dozens of different versions of the original text reaching from plain text translations to such that contain bloated psychological "self-help motivational" comments having barely anything to do with the original text.

After some research I found three versions, whereas two versions are from the same author but with different publishers.

Version 1:
Title: The Art of War
Involved: B. H. Liddell Hart (Contributor), Samuel B. Griffith (Translator)
Publisher: Publisher: OUP USA; New Ed edition (16 Mar 1971)

Version 2:
Title: The Art of War: The New Illustrated Edition of the Classic Text (The Art of Wisdom)
Involved: Samuel B. Griffith (Translator
Publisher: Duncan Baird Publishers; New Ill edition (18 Aug 2005)

Version 3:
Title: The Art of War (Penguin Classics)
Involved: John Minford (Translator)
Publisher: Penguin Classics (29 May 2008)

My question is: Has any of you made some experience with one of the mentioned version, and if so, give some recommendation? I am also open for other versions which are close to the original text.

Thank you for your endeavours.

Regards
Pcell

[malayang-diwa]

I haven't read any of their translations. My copy is James Clavell's, although I've also read Lionel Giles' translation. They're both pretty decent, you don't really have to buy the huge copies with illustrations. The pocket-size ones will do.

[Calidore]

Amazon's commenters are often diligent about comparing translations. Read through them and see what sounds good to you.