This is an extremely informative and well researched book. It could be helpful to new and experienced pipe smokers, though it is less a reference and more a narrative on pipesmoking history, trends, and trivia. Black and white pictures and a somewhat disorganized syntax and flow detract from the book, as does Hacker’s pretentiousness and name-dropping. Worth buying for the pipesmoker’s library, but a firm 3 stars.