At 1071 pages, Principles of Corporate Finance can hardly be called a short book. Introductory textbooks often suffer from a "too-much-too-little" syndrome, in that numerous topics are covered, but none too well. Brealey and Myers easily avoid this pitfall. Their writing is solid and manages to keep the reader's interest. Although available space puts a limit on what can be said, the book's coverage is quite comprehensive and well linked to the results of modern research. Moreover, all topics receive their fair share of treatment so you can actually understand the theories the book presents. It should be noted here that some mathematical background is probably necessary to make the book easy reading.

Each chapter contains many problems which can be used to facilitate the learning process. I found them very useful. The only complaint I have about the book (International Edition) is that the binding proved less than perfect, as after a while pages started separating from the main body of the work. But that is a problem I can live with.

All in all, an interesting, readable, authoritative introduction to corporate finance.

This is the preferred learning tools of all finance professors I have met and the reference used by all finance professionals I met. It is very simple to follow the concepts of the book, especially if you purchase the study guide that is available with it.

The only major concern I have heard is that it does not deal with the more recent finance problems of off-balance sheet financing and other shenanigans. This is a book meant to teach basic financial theory, so those topics, in my opinion, are better treated elsewhere.