This book paints an intriguing then-and-now portrait of Prague, focusing on the evolution, or devolution, of the city's main historic sites. Each spread has a "then" image on the left and the "now" image on the right. The old black-and-white historical photographs, in particular, are fascinating and beautiful. I've taken several historical walking tours of Prague and am happy to say doing a DIY tour, using this book, is by far the most rewarding and engaging method. My friends and I spent several days walking around the city with this book. It's a hardback and a bit large compared to your typical guidebook, but it fits easily into a standard size backpack and if you're willing to carry the extra weight, it's worth it. Being able to look at historic photos of different sites throughout the city, as we were actually standing directly in front of them, lent excellent historical perspective. The text is very informative and well-written, discussing the origins of the building and its current uses. Overall, this book captures Prague's beauty and gives a good sense of the its evolution over the past centuries. And it makes a good coffee-table book too.