The Art of War Japanese daimyō Takeda Shingen, and American military general Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. have drawn inspiration from the book. "The Art of War" is traditionally attributed to a military general from the late 6th century BC known as "Master Sun" ("Sunzi" or "Sun Tzu"), though its earliest parts probably date to at least 100 years later. Sima Qian's 1st century BC work "Records of the Grand Historian" ("Shiji"), the first of China's 24 dynastic histories, records an early Chinese tradition stating that a text on military matters was written by a "Sun Wu" from the State of Qi, and that this text
The Book of the Short Sun which point the narrative connects with the opening of "On Blue's Waters". For much of the first-person account, the narrator is imprisoned on Blue in a town called Dorp on trumped-up charges, and must use his various powers to foment a revolution against the unjust judges who rule the town. In the course of this effort, he again visits the Red Sun Whorl, where he meets a young Severian and inspires him to write a book. Once free, he returns to Lizard and New Viron, where the final riddle of his identity is solved, and helps defend against a massive