Tales of a Master Strategist

What do you imagine an ancient strategist was like? Did he hold a feather fan, exude an otherworldly air, and watch as his lord fretted, only to smile and say, “My lord, don’t worry,” before reducing the enemy fleet to ashes with a snap of his fingers? If so, congratulations: you’ve been fooled by television dramas. Real strategists didn’t have it so easy. Every day, they faced not the question “How do we win?” but “What do we do after we win?” And, most crucially, “Should I even help this person win?” This book hopes to show you the “real people” obscured by their pedestals. What makes someone a real person? They have private motives and struggle with their choices. Their left hand urges them to “serve the sovereign and love the country,” while their right can’t resist “fame and fortune.” At the crossroads of history, they offer advice to others while waging a battle within themselves. That tearing conflict between advancing and retreating is more gripping than any palace intrigue drama.