This second edition of the book is a significantly revised successor to the first edition [1]. Its preface states that this book is not intended to be a replacement for an introductory work on L^AT_EX, but instead a companion to such a work; the user is assumed to have read an introductory book, or be otherwise familiar with L^AT_EX, before using this “companion.” That said, there are fairly useful reminders of the basics interspersed throughout the text, sometimes in the form of examples; an infrequent user of L^AT_EX, or someone who has used earlier versions of the system, should be able to get along quite well using this book as a main reference after having read one of the suggested introductory texts. The new user may be well advised to have an introductory text handy, or an experienced user as a mentor.

The book is organized into chapters that correspond to different tasks or issues that might be encountered in preparing a L^AT_EX document. Following an introductory chapter, the core of the book consists of chapters 2 through 13, each addressing a different task. This task list begins with the different parts of a L^AT_EX document, its structure and sectioning commands (chapter 2), and commands for formatting text within documents (chapter 3). Page layout and styles are discussed in chapter 4, tables and arrays in chapter 5, and the placement and management of floats (namely, figures and tables) in chapter 6. Chapter 8 discusses the typesetting of mathematical notation and formulas. The nature, availability, and usage of different fonts are discussed in chapter 7, and usage for languages other than English is discussed in chapter 9. Chapter 10 is an overview of L^AT_EX and T_EX graphics support and capabilities (this part is necessarily a bird’s eye overview only; the new user would be well advised to look to the suggested Graphics companion [2], or elsewhere, for easier ways to handle graphics). Chapter 11 covers index preparation, and chapters 12 and 13 describe citations, references, and bibliography management with the BIBT_EX program.

Chapter 14 and Appendix A follow the core, with descriptions of package documentation, and material that should be of interest mainly to package writers. Two further appendices discuss troubleshooting documents and packages, and the Comprehensive T_EX Archive Network (CTAN) and T_EX user group resources. Finally, a CD with a runnable distribution is included, and the final appendix (Appendix D) contains a brief overview of this distribution; additional packages can be downloaded from CTAN if necessary. Large portions of the various chapters consist of descriptions, instructions, and hints about specific commonly used or potentially useful packages, which should save time for the user who is looking for solutions to one of the many commonly encountered problems. A comprehensive index is provided.

The book is over 1,000 pages long, and is packed with useful information; its length and breadth of coverage make it unsuitable as an introduction to L^AT_EX. As the authors state, however, this is not the purpose of the book. The coverage of related topics (such as ancillary software, and more convenient graphics inclusion), which would be nice to know about, and which would be necessary for producing many actual documents, is slight, but given the large volume of material already included, and the large volume of information available, this is entirely understandable (and the authors have supplied pointers to sources for such information). It will also sometimes be necessary for readers to look to CTAN or other sources for more detailed information about specific packages, but this too is to be expected. This book is more of a desk reference than a tutorial, though I found it to be a good resource for refreshing a memory that has grown somewhat rusty about some of the basic functionalities. I intend to keep this book handy on my shelf, as the first resource I will turn to when I have a question about L^AT_EX.