Have you read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu?

The Art of War (Chinese: 孫子兵法; pinyin: Sūn Zǐ Bīng Fǎ) is a Chinese military treatise composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare.

There are two basic types of warfare: attrition and relational-maneuver. This ancient text is the ultimate text on the latter. The US Army has mostly used attrition warfare. That means you throw more soldiers and weapons at the enemy than the enemy can handle. General Grant and WW II are cases in point. On the other hand the US Marine Corps is well-known for it use of relational-maneuver warfare such as Inchon in the Korean War. In relational-maneuver warfare, one can have lesser forces and still heavily damage the enemy or even win. One attacks the enemy's center of gravity or attacks the enemy with more/better forces at isolated points (e.g. the Finns vs. the Germans in WWII). One of the beauties of this approach is that there are far less casualties. In Desert Storm, the Iraqi communications were taken out early--an attack on a center of gravity for command and control. The principles in Sun Tzu's "Art of War" are transferable to any conflict situation as a general case because they are so high level in nature. They can be applied to football, business negotiations, etc. Unlike some, Sun Tzu recognized that winning a war is not a matter of killing all the enemy; it's a matter of imposing a nation's political will upon another. From a certain perspective, he appears to be a realist, militarist, and humanist (he tries to minimize casualties) combined.

It deals specifically with the art of war on a large scale but it also

offers insight into the war with our greatest enemy. Ourselves.

I was in the USMC some years ago and later discovered that

many of the suggestions made by Master Sun where used by the

Corps in their methods of waging war.

If you have an interest in reading it, you can print it for free on

the Internet. Google Sun Tzu and access the wikipedia site.

Included in the site is that facility to print Sun's work.

It was a very interesting read, it's pretty short, however the thinking of each line said by Sun Tzu takes a lot of time.

The Art of War has helped me to control my anger, work through my struggles with others and get through an argument.

This book is a very logical and psychological book, it can, as the other commenters have all already said be applied to real life other than war... I even used it in a game of monopoly with my family.

Some lines to give you examples:

The key to war is deception. Therefore when active act inactive, when able act unable.

(I was always quick to anger when playing a game and it showed, my opponent saw this as a weakness however now I learned to decieve and act calm even if you're not.)

Never underestimate your enemy.

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.

If you

Yes. I found it a bit dry, but very interesting.

You need to realize that it isn't just about war, but those strategies can be applied to politics, business, and life in general.

Another good book is: THE 36 STRATEGEMS, written in China about the same time period. It is another strategy book similar to Art Of War, but slightly different and more versatile.

If your interested in strategy you should read it. One of my favorite quotes is, "The ruler cannot mobilize the army out of personal anger. The general cannot engage in battle because of personal frustration. When it is advantageous move; when not advantageous, stop. Anger can revert to happiness, annoyance can revert to joy, but a vanquished state cannot be revived, the dead cannot be brought back to life."

Technically he discusses philosophies that just pertain to war, however, they are useful and quite interestingly practical in every day life. I recommend reading it. Twas a very interesting book.

Yes, I have. It's about war, yes, but it can be applicable to most things of life if you but stretch and ponder over it.