This book is an excellent reference book for those who need instruction on completing many of these desserts. Some of these desserts are not mentioned in other cookbooks, and I appreciate the concise detail given to complete these desserts. I am a Pastry student, and many of these methods are what we study in school. Although it was written a decade or so go, these methods are still widely used today. Good, basic writting, with comprehensible step by step instructions; make this book an indispensible book in my collection.