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A beautiful book that some will buy to have as a coffee table book, and not a bad choice at that. But it is actually very readable and informative as well. One could flip through it as a reference or read it straight through. The writing is very crisp, with a surprising amount of information packed into a small space (though those of us with weaker eyes will need good lighting or reading glasses!). The authors indicate when something they present is disputed or controversial, but don't go into great depth on such matters (they brush pass Richard Strauss' relationship with the Nazi regime without examining it even at a surface level, for instance). The editing could be a little tighter in a few spots, but generally is both good and consistent. Images of original materials enrich the book considerably, but they are small, so if you want to make out detail, bring along the magnifying glass. The book also includes contextual information, which is helpful. They don't always define every word as they use them, but for those who are not PhD music theorists, they have a small glossary at the back. There may not be a lot new for a true enthusiastic here, but the images are nicely done.
For those used to classical music being about old-looking white men and "Ancient," Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and "Modern," this book takes a different tack. The periods are broken up into Before 1600, 17th & 18th Centuries (so Baroque and early Classical), Early 19th Century (Late Classical and early Romantic) Late 19th Century (Late Romantic), Early 20th Century (Early "Modern"), and Late 20th and 21st Centuries (the rest). It includes some women composers, going back as far as Hildegard of Bingen, and also incorporates non-European/American composers. Mostly the reader feels like all the composers presented belong here, though a few are included with descriptions bland enough to make one wonder why (for instance--nothing against Bedrich Smetana, but you really didn't sell it, at least not for me). There is a "directory" at the end of each of the sections, with the also-ran runner-up composers that didn't make their own larger entries. Again, some may quibble that some in the directory ought to have been pulled out for their own entries, or some with their own entries ought to have been relegated to the directory.
The 16th-17th centuries section had 15 composers, 9 of whom had one page of text in their entries, 4 that had three pages, and 2 (Bach and Mozart, who else?) had 5. The early 20th century alone had 23 composers, 12 of which had three pages. So one can see that the publisher prefers the more recent composers to the older. For the composers before 1600, that may have been stemming from a lack of more information being available, but most of the composers since then have ample material to work with for the depth and breadth of the entries here.
As always when I read a good book about classical music, it makes me realize what pieces I need to add to my collection, however good I thought it might have been... I am not a classical music expert, but not completely new to the subject either, and I enjoyed reading it and learned things from every entry. Definitely a good read and a beautiful book to have hard copy.