The Book of Five Rings

I know that conflict is the less civilized side of civilization, and that HN generally is opposed to it (as sane people are), but a discussion of societal development would be lacking without an honest consideration of where the civilized components break down. I would suggest Musashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Five_Rings), Clausewitz, Influence of Seapower Upon History (Mahan), and of course Sun Tzu. While some are more specific than others (Musashi is actually about swordsmanship specifically, but conflict generally) they all have insightful things to teach. For a broader discussion look at Bobbitt's Shield of Achilles. He still has a significant portion on conflict, however it is also a discussion on the interplay of technology, legal development, and conflict.

Many of the ones I would list have been said before so I'll not list them, but I would also add. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - at it's core I felt it was about systems and how we can never truly eliminate or remove them from our lives but only replace them with other ones. A hard lesson for me to learn but I feel it really changed the way I look at the world. The Book of Five Rings - it's a book written by a masterless samurai duelist about his thoughts on dueling. But there was one statement in it that changed how I looked at everything, he basically broke down how we shouldn't have favored tools but rather use the ones that are best suited for the task at hand. Which had a profound impact on me. there are more but I'll need time to think about it some more

I haven't read the fictional works of Musashi, but his own warrior manual "The Book of Five Rings" is quite good, like "The Art of War". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Five_Rings

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson. Alice in Wonderland iff still young enough not to think girls are gross. Otherwise you must sneak up on him with the poetry, then introduce the book. (I've had success with reciting 'Jabberwocky' and 'The Walrus and the Carpenter.') Learn 'If,' by Kipling, by heart. Then teach it slowly and patiently. As an aside, quite a lot of Kipling is truly excellently boy friendly. The Proverbs of Solomon, et al. Found in any Bible or Talmud. Bears repeated reading, as most eastern 'wisdom' literature does (The Book of Five Rings, The Art of War, etc.). While we're at, why not the Narnia books? I loved them, and I'd no idea the Lion was apparently Jesus until I was nine or so. But by far do not DO NOT forget Michel Ende's marvelous 'The Neverending Story.' If you're only familiar with it from a movie, you've missed the best part, when the boy 'Bastian must take up arms and become the adventurer he has read about and loved.

I've enjoyed all the fictionalized accounts, but I think that if you want to learn from Musashi, you should read him directly. That's the Go Rin no Sho aka The Book of Five Rings. Nekopa has recommended the Cleary translation. I will recommend Hidy Ochiai's version, A Way to Victory: The Annotated Book of Five Rings. The annotations and analysis (after each book) really help get a sense of Musashi. Some points that stood out to me, considering that I'd read several other translations before: His absolute priority on winning. It's not that his style is the best way to win, it's that his style is based around winning. The whole point of the book is winning! You always have to win, by any means necessary. It's very bald; the text is peppered with bits like A tenet of my teaching is that one must win regardless of the length of the sword one uses, so I do not dictate the length of the sword. The ultimate objective of my style is to be prepared to win, no matter what weapons are involved. and somewhat disconcertingly,…

I have to add that people should also read The Book of Five Rings that was written by Musashi. I can't count the number of times I have bought and given away this book. Especially the translation done by Thomas Cleary. Cleary adds another text into the mix "The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War" by Yagyu Munenori, a contemporary of Musashi, but from a very different circle, so you get a nice contrast, and I believe it shows you how simplicity wins(5 rings). But both are excellent reads.

The book of 5 rings is a nice book. Here's another: Arthashastra by Chāṇakya has some chapters on war - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthashastra

A quick read is Wikipedia's summary of Miyamoto Musashi's "Book of Five Rings" - it's about Japanese swordsmanship in the early 1600's in a variety of situations: Full-on combat, a duel, outnumbered, with high/low ground, etc. It's strategic more than tactical, and if you like Sun Tzu you might dig it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Five_Rings The story of his life, "Musashi," is one of my favorite books of all time and has good strategic and philosophical discussion mixed in with some really riveting action and social commentary. Musashi had a lot of potential at a young age, but was extremely undisciplined and constantly had it out with the law, society, and people whose motivations he couldn't understand. The book chronicles him becoming the greatest swordsman in Japanese history. An incredible read, especially for anyone who was bright at young age but questioned a hell of a lot of society's rules. Amazon (no affiliate B.S., just a great book): http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Eiji-Yoshikawa/dp/4770019572

This has come up a couple times before. However, specifically for entrepreneurs, the books to read are: 1) How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie 2) Musashi's The Book of Five Rings 3) Gonzo Marketing by Christopher Locke 4) Getting Things Done by David Allen 5) What Management Is by Joan Magretta There are other books, but less relevant in a business context.

Brilliant. Double up-vote (if I could) on Musashi's Book of Five Rings.

1) Musashi's Book of Five Rings 2) Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People 3) Machaivelli's The Prince 4) Sun-Tzu's The Art of War 5) Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Action 6) Steven Johnson's Emergence 7) Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel 8) Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything 9) Mark Buchanan's Nexus 10) C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain Taken together, these books cover just about everything there is to know about the sciences, about human history, human nature and how to understand and communicate effectively with other people. Only one other book besides these needs to be studied/read: The Bible.