Captain Calthrop and the Art of War

Captain Calthrop is probably best known for the rather poor translation of Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ in 1905, and subsequently revised in 1908. Whilst the Giles translation has become the standard text, Calthrop’s was the first. For that, we should be grateful.

Having become a little annoyed with all the criticisms of Calthrop, I wanted to find out more about him. To be honest, there doesn’t seem much to find. Everard Ferguson Calthrop served in the Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A.), during the Boer War, and then worked for the Foreign Service in Japan.

Calthrop’s translation of the ‘Art of War’ was written whilst he was in Japan, and was also to provide translations on Japanese military reports of the Russo-Japanese War for the Royal United Services Institute.

However, during the Great War, as Lieutenant-Colonel he was officer commanding of the 38th Brigade Royal Field Artillery (R.F.A.). He was killed in action at Ypres on 19th December 1915, and is laid to rest at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.