At first I was a bit hesitant because of the price of the book, but when I got it I was pleasantly surprised at both the quality of the book and the amount of information inside. It's a hardcover with hundreds of glossy pages with dozens of extremely high quality illustrations. It also covers just about every facet of D&D that you would ever want to know to let you start playing. With this book, some dice, and the Dungeon Masters Guide you can start your own campaign.