The first thing I did when I opened this book was to look at the pictures; all of them! The photography is so spectacular that I couldn't stop until I saw them all. The Open Book is a history of the US Open Tennis Championships during the 40 years of the "open" (professional) era of tennis. It covers each decade since the beginning of the open era in 1968, using photos, statistics, and articles by famous tennis journalists. The photographs, as mentioned above, are amazing, and lead you through the story of the Open, with a few thrown in "out of order" to make you think about the connections between players of different decades, and to marvel at the way the game of tennis has changed over the years. I found it interesting to read the articles and opinions written during each phase of the change over from the amateur to professional era, through the institution of the tie break, equal prize money for women players, and the birth of the National Tennis Center. The statistics are interesting, but don't make your eyes glaze over if you're not a stats person, and there is also a dvd with information about the players immortalized on the Us Open Court of Champions. This book has so much information, that I expect to find something I "missed the first time", every time I open the book. As an avid tennis player and fan, I highly recommend "The Open Book" to anyone who has an interest in the game.