Written for a 1930's American audience we get to read what is basically Mr. Carnegie memoir of his personal journey as he matured in his business life. This work that has stood the test of time well. Mr. Carnegie believed in becoming a better person, or perhaps businessman, and felt in order to do so one should follow the lessons he learned and presents in this book. Regardless of what you read in this book I feel that in the long run it is always the people with integrity and are principled that will have the best long term interpersonal experiences.
Basically the book is written with a few principles about handling people by avoiding the negative and unpleasant, appreciating the other person, and making the other person eager to accomplish some goal of their own. Mr. Carnegie felt that if you provide positive feedback to the person that person will respond positively to you. His manipulative component is to then help the other person to link what you want to share with them with something they want. Because of this manipulative aspect you can see this is in fact a book on management and sales. This a must read for all who work in sales or management; the original targeted audience.