The author adopts the usual narrative-based biography writing method, but in terms of historical data screening, background analysis, point of view evaluation and strategy explanation, etc., he has carefully considered and crafted it, allowing readers to understand the story more truly. Feeling Zuo Zongtang's life and wisdom, as well as the changes and historical pulse of the great reform era of the late Qing Dynasty, it is a classic among dozens of "Zuo Zongtang Biography" in the West.

Zuo Zongtang was born in Xiangyin, Hunan during the late Qing Dynasty. He was enlightened by nature and seldom had great ambitions. However, he failed to recognize his talent in his youth. It was not until he was middle-aged that he entered an official career due to the recommendation of friends. Subsequently, he proved himself to be a great military strategist and statesman in the fight against the Taiping Tian movement, the campaign to recover the frontiers and the Westernization Movement. People at the time called him "the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang."