This work by General Sun Tzu is not only a book of military practice, but a treatise that teaches the supreme strategy of wisely applying the knowledge of human nature in moments of confrontation. It is not, therefore, a book on war: it is a work to understand the roots of a conflict and to seek a solution. "The best victory is to win without fighting," Sun Tzu tells us, "and that is the distinction between the prudent man and the ignorant.