This is a decent textbook inasmuch as it presents in a straightforward and understandable fashion the basic formulas, concepts and theories associated with managerial finance. It is somewhat dry, but not as bad as some textbooks on primarily technical topics.
My low rating for this book is due to the fact that the author attempts to drive home the point that the finance manager's sole job in a firm is to maximize wealth for the shareholder. Each chapter ends with a reiteration of this point, demonstrated in relationship to the current chapter's financial concept. Such narrowness of thinking is popular with those who want to solve the "agency problem" of business, but it is also just such myopia that leads finance managers to financial misdeeds which then precipitate lawsuits, government bailouts, companies going belly-up and even global economic crises.
I was in conversation with a Microsoft executive who had recently come back from a trip to London. He said that in speaking with his CEO friends over there that the "shareholder first" model of capitalism was "basically dead." Most folks have adopted some variation of a stakeholder theory or even a stewardship model. This is more complex and makes teaching good ethics in finance harder. But it is more authentic to the ambiguity to be found in the actual practice of running a business.
Gitman's book seems to be out of step with current thought in business and even current trends in management education. Perhaps he really believes in shareholder first thinking. If so, I wouldn't want him as the CFO of a company I owned.