innovis,
The first five translators listed at the bottom of this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War
are considered authoritative. They all differ however. And their differences are disputed by fans of each version.
I actually like Gary Gagliardi's most recent translation(s). They include the original Chinese characters allowing one to catch a glimpse of the concepts that animate all translations.
Gagliardi discusses this here:
http://www.booksonstrategy.com/art_of_war_chinese.htm
I also have come to appreciate the rest of his work.
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I'm bumping this thread because I have a current use for it and it's a good repository of comments and responses.