Yoder's book provides a clear and useful account of a great many subjects dealing with SW listening that can be exceptionally useful for beginners without being at all patronizing. Nowhere else, for instance, have I seen as understandable a description of SSB (which I had never quite understood before), and the beginner or even devoted non-fanatical listener can learn about a large number of both essential and delightfully arcane topics (utility, number and pirate stations spring immediately to mind) that are either completely uncovered in the major guides or treated so cursorily that they are useless. On the other hand, much of Yoder's volume is devoted to a country-by-country survey of SW listening, and it is here that his guide is severely inadequate for nearly all users, for he fails to provide the detailed information about frequencies and programming that is essential for any SW listener. Much better is the superb Passport to World Band Radio and (if you can stomach it) the World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH), both of which are far more up-to-date (since they're published annually) and significantly less expensive as well. Still, Yoder's volume contains info on a lot of topics that are either unexplained in the other volumes or explained so cursorily as to be useless. If you think of it as a book for people interested in learning about SW without having a radio nearby, then it has real merit, but if you're looking for a vade mecum to keep next to your radio, this isn't the book you want.