I have only been reading the "evans gambit" portion of this book. Not the part on the standard italian game. I have used this book to supplement another title on the Evan's - Michael Rohdes' "The Great Evan's Gambit Debate" - an excellent book. This book was a little difficult for me to navigate initially, because many of the games cover positions that i only reach via transposition (particularly in the 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. Qb3 line). In fact the games that can come from this line are not even all covered in the same chapter. This is not a fault of the book, and probably would not be bothersome to some people. It did make the book a little more challenging for me to navigate. Anyway, this book coveres many variations in much more depth than Rohdes's book. I have learned a lot from this book, and I am really glad I picked it up. The book has much more information than Rohdes' book. It is not in repertoire style, rather it is completely objective and impartial. Rhodes' book may gives stronger recommendations, telling white what the best move is and offering lots of original analysis, although he doesn't delve very deeply inot as many lines or as deeply into the games. There is a line of the Evans called the Wallers attack. Pinski covers 3 or 4 move options for black compared to one move covered by Rohdes. Both books are really great. If you want a brief summary of the opening with lots of original incite and a tendency for a repertoire style from White's perspective then get Rohdes book. If you want more complete coverage and more impartial - then maybe go with Pinski. Personally - I suggest that anyone really interested in playing the Evan's should get both.