One may ask why one needs an 800 odd page book on using a web browser? The answer, of course, is that Netscape Communicator is a powerful general purpose Internet tool for browsing the web, processing email, creating web pages, accessing Internet news, etc.

In essence the book is in nine parts each describing the facilities and use of one or more of the Communicator tools. Part one introduces the Internet, how to get connected, what software/hardware is required to support Communicator, how to get and install Communicator and a summary of the tools. In turn the tools are then described - Navigator (the browser), Messenger (handles email), Collabra (accessing Usernet newsgroups), Conference (real-time phone, Whiteboard, chat, etc.), Composer (the web page editor), Netcaster (enables web publishers to 'push' information onto your desktop), Calendar (keeps track of appointments), Mission Control (automated system management) and IBM Host On-Demand. The final part describes video and third-party extensions. Throughout the book there are plenty of screen dumps showing what is presented by each tool and typical output from the service requested.

A well presented book suitable for the end-user getting to grips with the Internet and its facilities and the network administrator involved with training users in using this tool. The book finishes with a useful subject ordered list of Infoseek's most popular web sites.