From Publishers Weekly
Sawyer, a leading scholar of Chinese warfare and fellow at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, is best known for his comprehensively edited translations of classical military writings. His latest analytical work is no less significant. It begins in the prehistoric period and continues through the fifth century B.C.E., an era traditionally described as one of stability, almost idyllic compared to the two-century warring states period that followed. Sawyer instead demonstrates through archeological evidence, traditional accounts, and convincing interpretations of inscriptions that conflict in China became increasingly complex, lethal, and decisive during the Hsia and Shang dynasties. Armies became structured forces with bureaucratized logistics. Warrior values were integrated into mainstream cultures. Sawyer's analysis ranges from the evolution of fortification, through the metallurgical innovations behind improved weapons, to the technologies and animal husbandry that enabled the chariots that became ancient China's signature. Warfare, says Sawyer, stimulated innovation, social change, and material progress. It also destroyed the peace and security of communities, then peoples, absorbed into ever-larger political systems sustained by force. Ancient China, shaped by its wars, was firmly set on ''a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity.'' Illus. (Mar.)
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Review
P. H. Liotta, author of _The Real Population Bomb: Megacities and Global Security
_โAfter decades of intense and dedicated scholarship, Ralph Sawyer has produced an astonishing volume. His linguistic and strategic skillsโhis fierce geniusโare everywhere in evidence. Sawyer is a master, and Ancient Chinese Warfare is his masterpiece.โ
Ralph Peters, retired Military Intelligence officer and author of _The War After Armageddon_
โ_Ancient Chinese Warfare_ is, paradoxically, a crucial book for the 21st century. As the โnewโ China aspires to global power, understanding the foundations of this civilizationโs way of war helps us grasp Beijingโs present psychology and behavior. The Chinese take a very long view of history, and we need to learn to do so. To that end, the brilliant work of Ralph D. Sawyer has long proven unrivalled...and this book is his masterpiece. No work better illustrates the deep (and gnarled) roots of Chinaโs contemporary ambitions.โ
Nicola Di Cosmo, Henry Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian History at the Institute for Advanced Study
โ_Ancient Chinese Warfare_ is an important, informative, and exciting book. Written with panache, brimming with new ideas, and based on a level of knowledge that would challenge any expert, Sawyerโs work has transformed single-handedly our understanding of ancient Chinese military history. Readers will find in this book a solidly informed and vivid account of Chinaโs ways of warfare from the Shang dynasty to the mid-first millennium BC. Only few of them will appreciate the massive effort of synthesis and analysis that this book represents, and it is to Sawyerโs credit that he has succeeded in bringing an extremely difficult topic to a level that everyone can understand, learn from, and enjoy.โ
Edward N. Luttwak, author of _The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire
_โNot unexpectedly, this book enhances Ralph D. Sawyerโs reputation as the premier interpreter of Chinese strategy and warfare. The surprise is that with the aid of a flowing style he has written a highly readable, indeed very enjoyable book on a seemingly abstruse subject. In a manner fascinating in itself, Sawyer brilliantly reconstructs the fragmentary archaeological evidence.โ