This book has become something of a classic since it was first published. Where so many books about black holes are, by necessity, highly technical and mathematical, Kitty Ferguson set out to write a non-mathematical book about them in terms that non-scientists could understand - while not omitting essential information. Does she succeed? Yes. One can learn an awful lot about black holes from this book without once having to dip one's toe into deep oceans of maths and physics.

After reading it, one really does feel that the subject has been explained and illuminated incredibly well. Starting with some basic physics surrounding atoms and nuclear processes - essential in order to understand what comes later - we move through Newton and Einstein before arriving at wonderful and lucid explanations of how light, matter and gravity are affected by black holes. Then we are shown examples of objects which are, by current understanding, almost certainly black holes, and what makes them so.

We go on a journey with an astronaut descending into a black hole, and what effects and phenomena he or she, plus somebody in an observing spacecraft, would experience. Ferguson completes the book with an account of where the study of black holes is heading and what scientists believe about them in light of recent (circa 1996) evidence.

The book is illustrated throughout with superb, clear diagrams which are used to explain salient points. Ten years on, this book is still an excellent introduction to the subject. In the intervening period, many discoveries have been made which, if anything, have complicated the study of black holes. If you want to read a clear, non-mathematical, well-written account of what we know about black holes and our attempts to understand them, then this is the book for you. Highly recommended.