Sunzi

Sun Tzu, Master Sun, is traditionally said to have been a general in the service of the king of Wu in the sixth century BC. According to a famous story, the king tested him by asking him to drill the palace women as soldiers, and when they laughed at his orders, Sun Tzu executed the king's two favourite concubines who commanded them, and the rest obeyed.

Historians are not sure he existed, and the book bearing his name may have been put together later, but The Art of War is the most famous work on strategy ever written. Its ideas on deception, preparation and winning without fighting are studied in business and politics as well as in war.