Fire and Water: The Art of Incendiary and Aquatic Warfare In China
Book Reviews | Feb 3rd, 2007
Author: Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher: Westview Press
Genre: History
Pages: 352
Retail Price: 9.99
Buy on Amazon.com link
This is everything you’ve ever wanted to know about how fire and water (mostly fire) was used in warfare in ancient China.
How much could be said about it? Oh man… a lot. The level of detail in this book is astounding. Culling information from seemingly hundreds of ancient Chinese texts, Sawyer (who is best known for his best-selling translation of Sun-Tzu’s Art of War) gives an in-depth play-by-play account of thousands of years of tribal battles.
The stories behind the creative implementations of the elements themselves are fascinating; even in this age of hi-tech gizmo warfare, there are new tricks I’ve learned from this book and they were done thousands of years ago! But the actual historical background is scholarly and detailed to the point of academic overload, and it could probably only be followed (let alone remembered) by the most passionate of Sinophiles.
Bottom Line: VERY detailed look at ancient warfare using the elements.
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