The Arbitrage Deskbook is thorough guide to arbitrage trading strategies. It is extremely comprehensive, covering arbitrage in all markets - from equities, to bonds, to commodity futures, and more. Most important is that it gets the reader to think like an arbitrageur and recognize the arbitrage opportunities presented by different situations.
This book is so comprehensive, that it does sacrifice some depth for breadth. Many complicated math problems are glossed over; it is difficult to understand some concepts thoroughly because the examples are not explained to great detail. If you see an important section, I suggest rereading it several times for better understanding.
In general, the author seems to expect the reader to have intermediate to advanced academic knowledge of finance. Familiarity with financial math and formulas will make this book easier to read. I suggest having some introductory college-level finance courses before reading, because the formulas presented may seem very cryptic if you've never seen them before reading this book.
In general, I think this is a great tool as a reference and for getting familiar with arbitrage. Don't expect to know everything by reading through it one time - there is too much information to remember on a single pass. Rather, try using this to learn how an arbitrageur seeks opportunity and then reference the topics later as you need them (i.e. keep this deskbook on your desk!). This is a great read for any student interested in entering proprietary trading or hedge funds.
