Robert Cantrell is a former infantry officer, business professional, author, photographer, and filmmaker. ROTC instructors at Duke University introduced him to the ancient Sun Tzu text in 1985. The book manuscript originated as a personal study on the text and then a documentary script written in 1999. Robert converted the documentary script into a book in 2002 because the costs of filming the documentary as written were prohibitive at the time.

Robert Cantrell is available as a speaker and trainer. Click here to contact him.

Booking info

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Understanding Sun Tzu on the Art of War was ten years old on March 24, 2013. The book has found its place among a myriad of Sun Tzu titles because it interprets Sun Tzu's philosophies in context with the Taoist philosophy from which it originated. This is a rare approach among books that tend to be either new translations, Sun Tzu applied to some other discipline, or the Lionel Giles translation under a different cover.

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Understanding Sun Tzu on the Art of War is both an interpretation and a source of Sun Tzu’s Art of War that clarifies Sun Tzu’s philosophies on war without compromising the subtlety of thought needed to master them. It contains a complete translation of Sun Tzu's Art of War plus an extensive interpretation of Sun Tzu's Art of War designed to make Sun Tzu's ideas useful. 


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Understanding Sun Tzu on the Art of War