Product Description
When a tiny wizard whisks seven-year-old Patricia and her crutches from her home in Australia to Japan, she encounters his family, an evil ghoul, and the hope of a magic cure for her physical handicap. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great art, but...
...terrible writing! I just read this aloud to my 5-year-old daughter. She liked it well enough, but I was stumbling right and left over the clumsy prose. The story itself is disjointed and borderline absurd. It purports to take place in Australia, Japan, and England, though none of these locales nor their inhabitants feels the least bit authentic, and the faux-Japanese "thrump-o-moto-mini-moto" wizard phrases are simply cloying.

George Sharp's paintings are imaginative and often luscious, but nowhere do they match his exhilarating work for Joy Chant's *The High Kings*, which preceded the publication of this book by three years and whose writing offers MUCH more for young and adult intellects and imaginations to savor (though it's not for five-year-olds!).

Sadly, a rare occurence in children's literature.
Thrump-O-Moto is a wonderful book!I have been reading it since I was old enough to read, yearly at least.An epic storyline, delightful art, and heart warming message.It proves that miracles can happen, but they are never very easy.As a child, it was a children's book about adult things like life, death, and heroism, which is why I love it.Its a pity there aren't more books like this jewel.

Thrump-o-Moto
This is a beautifully illiustrated and written book for both children and adults.It is touching and inspiring.It brings home the important lesson of never giving up and helping to fight the good fight against an illiness or other evil.
Takes place in Australia and Japan and a fantasy land.
Charming and lovable characters.
Enchanting and inspiring.

Heart warming story
I bought this book for my children for Christmas in 1988.It was so beautiful in word and pictures that I bought a second book so that each ofthe children could have their own book. It's story of the wizard"Thrump O Moto and how he saves Patricia from the evil "Nurk-uthe Bad is so delightful.I always wanted to find the address of StevenSpielberg as I felt it would have been a wonderful movie only Spielbergcould have writted for the screen.

A richly illustrated, magnificent fantasy for all ages..
Clavell's Thrump-O-Moto is nothing short of a literary masterpiece.This fantasy begins with a lazy rural afternoon and leaps across continents and through time warps with a most informal and personal accessibility. The possibilities of friendship, the comparison of cultures, and the thrill of adventure all contribute to create a most fantastic story.The illustrations supplement the flowing text like frosting on an already luscious cake. Clavell's marriage of detail and whimsy make for characters and places with an endearing, enduring reality all their own. Ideal for preschool and young elementary children, Thrump-O-Moto may require a few laptimes for tots with short attention spans; but don't be surprised if when you finally reach the end, you are asked to begin the adventure all over again! ... Read more

Product Description
The writings of the ancient warrior Sun Tzu have provided tremendous wisdom to generations through the ages. Now these philosophies are available with anecdotal extracts by the author of Shogun and Noble House. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (145)

Good read
I really enjoyed reading this little book. It seems more like a manuscript than a real text book. Maybe that's how Sun Tzu intended the book to read like.

The only thing I did not like from this book is that there is no annotations whatsoever. Overall though it is a good read and I think it can help people in many situations in life (business, relationships, job, etc)

The best book on strategy
The Art Of War is the best book of war strategy I have ever found. Each of the 13 Chapters describe one aspect of war strategy in a clear way. Even if this book as 2400 years, it is still even more relevant today as strategy it is applied to other sectors like business and sport (Sun Tzu For Success: How to Use the Art of War to Master Challenges and Accomplish the Important Goals in Your Life).
This very is a clear translation without any commentary. While commentaries help to explain the views of Sun Tzu, I prefer this version because it is so clear and easy to read.

A little Klunky
The book is probably not as smoothly produced / edited as other versions of The Art of War.Compare the presentation of a couple of versions before settling on the one that suits you best.

The Essence of Art of War
This edition is the stripped-down basics only.No commentary, no historical background, just the basic text of Sun Tzu's Art of War.I have a commentary version that is 4x thicker.Love this one for easy carrying and quick review.

Management skills
The Art of war is an unique book which deals withmanagement skill development tools. The techniques explained in the book are universal and applicable in all times and situations.
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Customer Reviews (1)

One of the most important military books in history
The Warring States period Warring States Period 475-221 BCE is a history of constant warfare, of alliances and counter-alliances, and of treaties made and broken.The nature of warfare evolved during the period.During the Warring States period, political stability was impossible to gain by adventurous military action.With the advent of swelling ranks of soldiers, protracted sieges, and an ever increasing drain on state treasuries, warfare became a serious matter for study.

Thus, the opening remark of "The Art Of War" states--without exaggeration--war had become the most serious business of the state, the key to survival or ruin. The author of this and other pithy aphorisms on how to successfully fight a war was Sun Tzu.Sun Tzu scholars place his writing "The Art of War" in the Warring States Period, based on the descriptions of warfare in the text. The book has received great exposure in the west starting in the eighteenth century after being translated by a French missionary.It has been reported that Napoleon studied the text and effectively put many of its teachings to good use.For the past 2,000 years, it has been the most important military treatise in all of Asia, even known by name with the common people.Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese military figures have studied it and employed its concepts to good effect.This is especially evident in the military tactics of 20th century revolutionaries like Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh.

The book is comprised of 13 chapters.The thesis of Sun's work is one should employ an army after a thorough analysis mandated by careful planning and the formulation of an overall strategy before embarking on a campaign.Sun emphasizes rational self-control, influenced by Daoist teachings throughout the book.

Chap 1-Laying Plans
18. All warfare is based on deception. 19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

Chap 6-Weak Points And Strong
8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

The best translation is the Samuel B. Griffith edition

... Read more

Product Description
This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Asian Saga Novels, Shōgun, Whirlwind, Noble House, King Rat, Gai-Jin, Tai-Pan. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Shgun is a 1975 novel by James Clavell. It is the first novel (by internal chronology) of the author's Asian Saga. Beginning in 1600 in feudal Japan, some months before the critical battle of Sekigahara, it gives an account of the rise of the daimyo "Toranaga" (based upon the actual Tokugawa Ieyasu) of the Shogunate, seen through the eyes of an English sailor whose fictional heroics are loosely based on William Adams's exploits. John Blackthorne, an English pilot serving on the Dutch warship Erasmus, is shipwrecked on the coast of Japan. He and the few survivors of his Dutch crew are taken captive under the direction of the local samurai Kasigi Omi and confined to a pit for a few days, until, in the eyes of their captors, they begin to act like "civilized men," that is, when they stop complaining, demanding their freedom, shouting, etc. Omi's daimyo, Kasigi Yabu, arrives and executes a randomly-chosen sailor by having him boiled alive. At Omi's suggestion, Yabu plans to keep the guns and money recovered from Blackthorne's ship to increase his own influence, but he is betrayed by a samurai who has informed Yabu's later lord, Toranaga, of the ship's arrival; and Yabu is obligated to turn Blackthorne, the ship, and its contents over to him. While in the household, Blackthorne is given the title Anjin, meaning "pilot," by the Japanese because they can't pronounce his name. Blackthorne insists that Omi-san apply the honorary suffix -san as if he were a samurai worthy of respect, and so Blackthorne is henceforth known as Anjin-san. (In actual history, William Adams was called Anjin-sama, a higher honorific.) Blac...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=188071 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Classic historical fiction -- an unforgettable saga
I did not expect to find another novel by James Clavell that I liked as well as Shogun or King Rat.But Tai-Pan is, indeed, that novel.This is a magnificent saga of the founding of Hong Kong by powerful British trading interests, which manipulate the British government towards establishing Hong Kong as Britain's trading outpost in the Far East.

Even more, this is the story of an unforgettable fictional character, Dirk Struan, founder of The Nobel House, the leading British trading combine in China.Struan is determined to open up China to Western trade, and to "bring China into the family of nations."This novel is his story, and it is wonderfully told.Struan and the other characters in this novel spring to life, and this is an absorbing novel that is almost impossible to put down.Struan struggles to combine the best traits of the British democratic system and the wisdom of China, of which he notes, "the Chinese are a wise smart people, even if they don't build good cannons like Europeans..." and he admonishes his ship's crews to adopt Chinese practices of good hygiene and other sanitary practices.In this novel Clavell explains the opium trade, and how it came to be an evil that was nevertheless central to the China trade in these times.

This is a novel of intrigue.Struan and his Noble House are locked in a life-and-death commercial and family blood feud with Brock & Sons, another powerful British firm that vies with The Noble House for primacy in trade with China.And the intrigue does not stop there--Clavell introduces us to a breathtaking 19th Century Russian scheme for world dominance in which Struan manipulates Britain, Russia, and the fledgling United States as the world of this time, the 1840s, is seen to be racked with war and political and economic conflict.

This is a fabulous novel of China that no one should pass up.Five stars.

Historical Fiction - It is great!
This is a fictionalized account of the life of William Jardine (called Dirk Struan in "Tai-pan")- founder of the trading giant Jardine Matheson & Co. Ltd.This is the "Princely Hong" which isrefered to as the Noble House of Hong Kong in Clavell's books.

Thisbook is riviting- and somewhat illuminating historically.If you long forthe good old days- take a peek into the 19th century- you will change yourmind real fast!

This book grabs you from the first pages, and holds youtill the last- it is a masterpeice!

Great adventure with a cast of characters that come to life
One of the best books I have read. Best of all James Clavell's novels. The book is filled with adventure,mystery and continual intrigue. The characters are inter-woven to keep you interested in all their activities.

Awesome!
Right behind Shogun as the best James Clavell book.Total excitement and adventure.A must-read ... Read more

Product Description
SHOGUN A Novel of Japan in 2 Volumes by James Cavell 1975 Hardcovers Atheneum, NY ... Read more

Product Description
The Netherlands, around 1600, was about the same size as Massachusetts today, its population was about 1 million. Struggling for its independence with mighty Spain, the country was boiling with economic activities.

Ship after ship left the Netherlands in search of spices, most went via the Cape of Good Hope. The first who tried the other way, via the Strait of Magellan, was Jacques Mahu and his fleet of five ships. From the start things went wrong. Lack of water, food, scurvy and a dramatic overwintering in the Strait decimated the fleet. Once in the Pacific Ocean endless storms disperse the ships.

Only one ship, the De Liefde, reaches Japan, of its crew only 24 men are left. It is the British pilot William Adams who manages to befriend the Japanese Shogun Ieyasu. Gradually the Portuguese and the Spanish are being pushed into a corner. In the end only the Dutch are allowed to trade with Japan for almost the next 250 years. A disaster ends in one of the biggest commercial successes in world history: the longest trade monopoly between two sovereign nations ever.

William Adams is John Blackthorne in James Clavell's unforgettable novel Shogun. This book of maritime history ends where Shogun starts.