The author's intended audience was leaders of countries and generals of armies. This is obvious because the whole war is based on how to succeed in war. Although the author's intended audience was leaders of armies, many others find it very useful. The Art of War is a way of life in many Asian countries. It is even used in the United States business world. It is a useful tool in negotiation and many businessmen have realized this and taken advantage of it.
2. The purpose of Sun Tzu writing this book was to help generals succeed in war with the minimum amount of wasted lives. He wrote the book so that generals would not just wage war for the purpose of waging war. The book was also written so that generals would not kill innocent people without cause. If there was an opportunity to allow the citizens escape they should, if war is going to be lost then a general should not send he troops out, and the last purpose was to teach generals to prepare ahead of time for war.
General Officer Talks at Panmunjom
A Chinese bamboo book, open to display the binding...
English: Enchoen in Yurihama, Tottori prefecture, ...3. The most important ideas that the author presented were that war need not be waged unless it is absolutely necessary and that one should not be arrogant in war because it will lead to downfall. Included in this topic is preparation. There were many ideas stating that generals should prepare before the war. He wrote that a general should send spies to learn about the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Also a general should know the land that the war will be waged for so that he has all the advantages.
4. There was a very effective writing technique used by the translator of the book. After each of Sun Tzu's points, he added a quote or...