Other reviewers nailed this one- If you need to become fluent in "conversational German" overnight (read: Business trip), this is the perfect book for you. For people who really want to learn the language and/or culture... at least it's cheap.
Yes, the book has errors. Yes, it has some awkward presentation (it has exercises asking you to try to speak phrases before it introduces proper pronunciation!). Yes, it's more about giving you phrases like "Where's the Taxi" and "How's my hair" over anything truly fundamental... but that's not really what this book is about.
Get this book if:
-You're vacationing in Berlin 3 months from now and you want to be able to ask when your train is leaving without looking like a typically clueless tourist.
-A great-aunt you didn't even know you were related to recently passed away and the only stipulation on her inheritance is that you must know enough German to find your way to her estate.
-Your boss just told you that Hans from the Berlin office wants to talk to you- now.
Don't get this book if:
-You just found out your future mother-in-law is a German immigrant and you need to speak picture-perfect German to impress her.
-You plan on moving to or living in Germany for an extended period.
-...or if you have the time to "do things right".
If you need to learn German, and you need to learn it NOW, this is probably the best book I've ever seen for that purpose. If you're looking at a longer time frame or a situation where precision matters more than simply how fast you can assimilate the language, then you should at least pick up some supplements to help weed out where the errors are.
...and hey, it's a reasonably cheap book with a pretty reliable "cheat card" of phrases just behind the front cover. It's hard to argue with that.
