This is not a book you read from cover to cover, per se; it's a reprint of portions of a Baedeker's Guide to, essentially, the Northeastern United States, originally published in 1899. The value of the book is in the descriptions of places and things that no longer exist in the form they were in, in 1899. This is particularly true of New York City, for example. The commentary about the United States in the front of the book is interesting; very interestingly, James Bryce (later a diplomat to the US) was tabbed to explain the US Constitution and government to readers in the original; alas, that section is not included in this reprint -- a pity. A very interesting book. ( )