As a first time dog owner, I found this book very helpful, it is packed with history of the German Shepherd dog, and I was impressed with the additional information on the White Shepherd Dog (which is what I have). There is a lot of breed-specific information throughout, and good beginning tips on training (though I purchased another book specifically for training also).
The DVD that comes with the book is not really that great, it's got no specific German Shepherd Dog content, and the training guide in it encourages you to train with constant treat motivation.
Also, not content-related, I really liked the feel of this book, it's a hard cover but opens flat, and the pages have a nice feel as you read through it.