As a midwestern dweller interested in growing roses, I can say that many rose books assume that most growers live on the West coast, in the South, or even in England, so much of the advice is not applicable to those of us living in the colder and more negligible "flyover" states.
But Peter Schneider gardens and grows over 1200 roses in Ohio (Zone 5). Just about every rose he recommends in this book is hardy in his growing zone, and many to colder ones yet. He very helpfully indicates just how tall the roses actually get in his zone -- so the climber rose, Zephirine Drouhin, for example, which is usually listed as reaching 10 ft in height, only gets to be a 4-ft bush in his garden because it is only marginally hardy. And he also tells us how well each variety repeats bloom for him. This is very useful information for those planning gardens.
Much of the book reads like a series of informal chats with an experienced rose grower who shares all kinds of useful, "insider" tips, information and amusing stories with us. Lucky us!
There are many beautiful photographs of the roses, although not every variety is pictured, which would have been helpful to those of us who are not already familiar with hundreds of varieties. But his advice concerning rose care is some of the most helpful I have read to date, particularly concerning mulching, winter care and pests/diseases.
Altogether a very useful book for rose growers, and particularly recommended for northern and midwestern would-be rosarians.