I know nothing about design, but I got this book from my local library and really enjoyed leafing through it. It's a great book for dipping into, and gives a comprehensive overview of all the different types of patterns you could imagine. It's nicely laid out with a good selection of patterns on each page, and each pattern or group of patterns has a short caption including a combination of any of the following: who made the pattern, where the inspiration came from, what particular symbols mean and the actual logistics of how it was made.
Complaints? Well although there's a section on Polynesia there isn't one on native Australia/ New Zealand, an odd and disappointing oversight considering all other regions of the world seem pretty well represented. Also the caption text is a little small and all in italics, making it a bit difficult to read which is annoying - although understandable given you would expect priority to be given to the patterns themselves not the text.