The misquote 'It does exactly what it says on the cover' springs to mind for this book, in that it is a reference book containing good and bad models for the management of software development.

Although it assumes some knowledge of the software life cycle, the introduction does a good job of explaining the nature of patterns and anti-patterns and the template used to present them in the book. The bulk of the content is a series of anti-patterns in three sections; software configuration management, management and process and requirements and testing. Each pattern is presented in a clear and readable fashion, with numerous examples covering different project sizes, locations and industries.

I have two reservations about the book, the first is the price which at $45 is too high for the quantity of advice presented and the second that there are more anti-patterns than patterns which gives the overall feel that it is documenting the negative rather than providing guidance to successful software development. Recommended.