Learn the basics of stroke care, and what to expect from the hospital and rehab. This helped me understand how stroke affects people differently (speech, paralysis, etc.).
After my brother suffered a stroke at 59, I've read a lot of titles on the topic. This book gives a compact overview of the causes, effects, and treatments.
To supplement a book like this, I recommend reading personal accounts of stroke survivors. Those helped me understand the situation from the viewpoint of someone who had experienced it.

In response to a family emergency, I ordered four books on stoke recovery. Two had been recommended to me as being helpful for lay people: (1) "Living With Stroke: A Guide For Families" (Senelick, Rossi & Dougherty, 1999) and (2) "Stoke and the Family: A New Guide" (Stein, 2004). I ordered these for my family members (and myself). Two more were written at a much more scholarly, technical level for clinicans: (3) "Recovery after Stroke" (Barnes, Dobkin, & Bogousslavsky, Eds, 2005), and (4) "Stroke Rehabilitation: A Function-Based Approach" (Gillen & Burkhardt, Eds, 2004).

Each of these books has much to recommend it. I hope to write reviews of all four; I've already written an Amazon review of "Living With Stroke". I can see why the first two are standouts, and have been helpful to so many people. They are well-written, concise books with plenty of important information. These books will help you quickly become an educated consumer of medical care. (They won't always familiarize you with medical controversies and choices, but they do a remarkable job of capturing the key issues. Controversies include, for instance, the use of anti-seizure meds, and the use of statins for cholesterol reduction, especially in women. Stein in particular is more likely to point out controversies, and he does point out side effects of medications, in various instances).

Stein's book is easy to read and has succeeded in packing in an enormous amount of information into a 272 page paperback. Unlike "Living With Stroke," it contains a number of illustrations and photos which are helpful in understanding the brain, setting up a safe home environtment, etc. It contains more (and sometimes different) information than "Living With Stroke." Toward the end, it does a nice job of discussing medical research and experimental treatments, but also makes readers aware of a wide variety of "nontraditional" treatments, such as acupuncture, herbs, and biofeedback.

The book's 20 chapters cover the following: What is a stroke?; Finding the Cause of a Stroke; Stroke prevention; How the Brain works; Medical Complications after Stroke, Recovery and Rehabilitation; Stroke in Young and Old; Impact on Marriage and Relationships; Impact on Children and Family; Return to Work and Leisure Activities; Weakness after Stroke; Loss of Sensation or Vision; Problems with Memory and Thinking; Emotional and Personality Changes; Communication Difficulties; Swallowing Difficulties; Pain and Muscle Spasms; Equipment and Home Environment; Nontraditional Treatments; Understanding Clinical Research. There is an extensive appendix on "resources and information"

I believe that many people will be able to complete the book in a two or three nights. That's important when time is of the essence and you are trying to educate yourself quickly.

If you are a family member and/or a caretaker: This is the book to bring with you to the hospital waiting room. Take this one, or the "Living With Stroke" book. You are likely to be waiting for long periods between visits with doctors and nurses, and you'll have many questions. You'll learn much more detailed general information from this book than the 10 minutes you spend consulting with the doc. What this book doesn't explain is how to deal with hospital staff who are busy and not always concerned with communicating with family members. But it provides plenty more. You can use this book to educate other family members and friends who might not be as thorough and bookish as you, and win them over to a sensible and realistic agenda.

If you are a professional, you may find this book helpful, for a variety of reasons. First off, you might consider recommending this book, or "Living with Stroke," to your patients. Stein's book contains more, and different, information than "Living With Stroke" (I recommend both). Moreover, you might use the language in these books to explain situations and decisions to patients and their families. The authors have taken care to discuss emotionally and cognitively complex material in a sensible and clear manner.

My aunt became partially incapacitated by a stroke at the age of 55, and I took on the responsibility of assisting her in her day-to-day activities. I bought a number of books on stroke, but found this one to be by far the most comprehensive and sensitively written on the subject. Dr. Stein's book describes the wide range of severity that strokes can take and offers in-depth guidance on how best to adapt to life after stroke. I especially appreciated that the author explained the medical implications of stroke in layperson's terms that I could understand without a scientific background. If you buy one book on this subject, let this be the one -- I recommend this book without reservation to anyone whose family has been touched by stroke.