I have the 4th edition of this pocket Phrasebook. I've been studying German for a bit now, and realized that I still dont have the best grasp of common phrases and such as traditional textbooks always seem to teach them in random but cumulative manner. So I recently bought this, after comparing this book with other phrasebooks at Waldenbooks.
I think this a really good phrasebook. I was really impressed by the very short, nice concise grammar section that gives a bare rundown. This book doesnt just focus on the "formal" tone which is the pitfall of many of other phrase books and that being so the book focuses on a lot more than just the simple touristy stuff that you'll find in other phrasebooks, it covers situations from simple numbers, to meeting people, to sex with said people, to handicaps and disabled persons, and religious beliefs. Though no cusswords or insults ;(.
All in all, for a pocket phrasebook I think this is pretty good and that this is the minimum standard that all pocket phrasebooks should be required to attain.
The only thing I didnt like so far, is that the pronunciation guide kinda sucks. It uses an arbitrarily made pronunciation chart/style which isnt bad up in itself really (for the most part it's good if you are comfortable with American style pronunciation guidance) Though, somethings seem wrong like the book gives the phrase for:
"eine Dose" - ai·ne Daw·ze
The pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book says the "aw" part is equivalent to the pronunciation of the word 'saw' in English, but that's wrong. It should still sound like a short 'ow' such as in the English word 'sow'. Another thing I noticed of err was that "komisch" was called a false friend (a word that appears to be a cognate but is not) for "comical" but instead means "strange". Though in reality, "komisch" means either.
Other than that I'm gonna give it 5 stars because i cant give it 4.5 for now pending anymore discovered grievances.