This book explains the fundamentals of structural analysis (mainly statically determinate structures) and then goes on to the design fundamentals for different materials (wood, steel, concrete and masonry) followed by the design of the structural system for a building. I first used an earlier edition of this book when studying for my undergraduate degree as an introductory book before reading the course texts. The present edition maintains the "easy to understand" explanations of the earlier edition while adding new materials, expanding other sections and updating the design methods in line with the building codes. Emphasis is placed on understanding, the explanations given are very clear and there are numerous worked examples to illustrate the principles. The book is excellent for the beginner first getting used to structural analysis and design or for the practising engineer who has not touched structures for a while and wants to refresh his memory. However this book is only the first step and the undergraduate or practising engineer would do well to follow up on this with other more specialised books like Wang and Salmon's "Reinforced Concrete Design", Salmon and Johnson's "Steel structures: Design and behaviour", or Halperin and Bible's "Principles of Timber Design for Architects and Builders".
