At this point, I will say this book is the best out there for Civil 3D training.
With that being said, however, the book is LOADED with errors. Features are called one thing in a step of the tutorial, then called something else a few steps later. Some steps don't work exactly as they say it will. (They leave certain "tricks" out - tricks that make the feature work as it should) I've contacted the publisher several times regarding the mistakes I've discovered that weren't covered in their errata page, and only received patronizing responses or no response at all.
It is quite obvious to even the least experienced user of Civil 3D, that this book was rushed to print. For the authors to be practicing P.E.s and an E.I.T., the mistakes are inexcusable.

With a title like "Mastering" I expected a lot more. While it is about the only current offering on the subject the title should be "Beginning", it does not teach you to "Master". Within a few pages I had doubts about the credibility of the book. Words were missing and the general feel was rather amateurish. I also strongly suggest that they have a practicing Land Surveyor review the next edition before publishing, it is painfully obvious that like most engineers they know just enough about surveying to be dangerous.

Example: On page 7 in the first paragraph: "Many engineers continue to work in an arbitrary coordinate system using the settings as shown earlier, but using a real coordinate system is easy! For example, setting up a drawing ...." and they procede to show how to choose the North Central Zone, US foot, of the NAD83 Texas State Plane. There is a lot more involved in obtaining state plane coordinates then just choosing the zone of a state plane coordinate system. Very expensive equipment with highly trained and skilled people to operate it are necessary. The implication above is that all you need to do is pick a coordinate system and go. WRONG!!!!! I have had managers that would refuse to purchase up to date equipment after reading such a misleading published statement, saying what do you need it for, all you have to do is click on the right coordinate system.

I suspect their friends are the ones who post the glowing 5 star reviews.

If you have Civil 3D 2009 and are counting your pennies, work your way through the tutorials included with the software first. AutoDesk has greatly improved their help files. Search the Civil 3D newsgroup for any specific questions. You will probably find you don't need this book.

This book is exactly what I needed to "kick-start" our Civil 3D turnover from Land Desktop. This book gives real world examples and real applications, unlike the autodesk "bells and whistle" workshops. If you are not sure if this book is for you, trust me it is. The book is well written and doesn't miss a step. Very easy to follow along for the Land Desktop user to skip intermediate steps and straight forward for the novice. The only drawback is the small text.

Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008
I bought this book the week it came out and used it to teach myself Civil 3D from the ground up. I was able to, in a short time, use Civil 3D in a production environment. This book along with the web site for it have been invaluable in expanding my knowledge of the software.

Recently in a new position at a new company we purchased a dozen of these books as the text I will be using to teach Civil 3D to the entire company, as we transition from Land Desktop to Civil 3D.

As a self teaching guide or a classroom text this book is the best.

It's interesting to read some of not so great reviews on this book. I'm not sure what people expect but if you want a comprehensive introduction to Civil 3D 2008, This is the best book on the market right now. The book is well organized, easy enough to digest (as technical self teaching software books go). For $45 you have the tools to learn this software.

Writing books of this nature has to be a real challenge. Autodesk puts out a new release every year, most users have the latest release, the books have a very limited period of marketability & writers have little time prior to offical release to prepare. Considering all that, I find the price very reasonalble, the content accurate & appropriate and errors minimal.

I have another books for C3D, previously to Mastering, and I like the say, that is very friendly, I feel like, it's a friend that answer me the questions that I have from Civil 3D, with examples and tips, without all that technical stuff that others books use. I recommend it. Thanks

The book is just OK. It has technical errors here and there nothing that can't be figured out by doing an excersize over two or three times. Called Technical Support about some errors on the companion CD and was told the errors were from my version of Civil 3d. I think they just didn't want to admit to their errors or replace my CD. I've found additional errors on the CD since contacting them but I don't have time to be bothered witth them anymore. I can imagine there must be better book out there as this only helps with the most basic design problems.

The book itself is extremely useful. Well written and contains information in a format that makes it useful for educational purposes. However, I would not purchase from Amazon.com or at least warn buyer NOT to purchase any of the like new books. In this case, the book was listed with minor defect - bend in spine, but in actuallity was missing a main component, the CD, which Amazon refused to produce or refund.

This book is useful for anyone without a clue on how to use Civil 3D. "Mastering" I would think would include details on how the different modules interact, thought process and limitations of each function, which is missing in this book. However, I recommend it for users who are new to the Civil 3D world.

I feel this book is a great resource of information on Civil 3D for both experienced users and beginners.

I purchased this book a few weeks ago. I decided that I wanted my office to standardize on Civil3d 2008 so I needed an authoritative book that could teach me all the intricacies of Civil3D. This book filled the bill and more.

What do you want to learn how to use in Civil3d? Parcels, Alignments, Surveys, (I am a Land Surveyor) any topic, this book covers it completely.

You could easily use it as a text book for Civil3D 2008.

It will become well worn as I use it very, very often.

Earl Cenac

The authors of this book guide you thru implementing and using Civil 3d step by step. I recommend this book for each and every engineer or surveyor who uses or wants to use Civil 3d - it's worth the investment, even if you only read 1 chapter. Written in a helpful, simple and friendly way, but advanced enough that you don't lose patience getting to the point. Now, if they would only make an audio book - just kidding!

This is by far the best Civil 3D book I've seen, written by arguably the best Civil 3D implementation team in the business.

Mastering Civil 3D 2008 is much more than a "picks and clicks" guide. Countless examples are included ranging from simplified training situations to real world examples. Rather than only describing the ideal case and use for each tool, the authors warn readers on how to avoid and work around many common issues, and provide commentary on preferred approaches. This is particularly true in the chapter on advanced corridors. I was also impressed with the broad range of topics that were included: from survey to Vault and everything in between. There is even a chapter on the dreaded Part Builder.

Buy this book!

I spent a few hours today powering through the book.
I read the Vault chapters closely and skimmed the rest as my role in the Civil 3D implementation effort at my firm is more in the nature of oversight.
I really think all of my users could benefit from reading and learning from the Authors experiences.
The software package discussed in the book is so flexible and complex that any practical advise is welcome and will accelerate the user's ability to perform his job tasks in a more efficient manner.
This particular publication could chop months off of the considerable learning curve of being fully functional in it's use.
The exercises appear to be quite practical and address procedures that are needed in everyday use.
Don't think for a minute that you will learn all you need to know but you will learn a lot about how the product "thinks" and how to bend it to your needs.
I couldn't recommend this any more highly.
It will help your organization if you are trying to implement this product.
Now I have to go back to accounting and get authorization for the purchase of some more copies.

Great work from the authors. This is the definitive Civil 3D 2008 book for any operator already familiar with AutoCAD. I would recommend this book to any user, from C3D newbie to advanced user. Readers will find handy how-to's and solutions to common pitfalls. Each example is realistic yet digestible. There are lots of screen captures to guide you along. The text is actually readable, unlike so many technical manuals. You'll find a smattering of quirky humor as well as intense discussion on advanced topics such as Vault and part builder.

My only minor complaint is that some of the text get a bit small in the screen captures. Other than that the book is well laid out and progresses topic to topic in a logical manner.

If you are even thinking about using Civil 3D, BUY THIS BOOK!