My mother was recently diagnosed, and I bought this book hoping it would be an informative summary of treatment methods, statistics, and coping strategies. Unfortunately, it is not. It contains pretty much the same general information that can be found on the American Cancer Society web site, and I would recommend the National Cancer Institute's PDQ service for much more comprehensive clinical information. Also, my mother's oncologist provided several pamphlets that were just as good or better on treatment side effects and coping strategies. As far as I can tell, this book's main merit is its case studies, all of which have positive outcomes. These may give patients more hope. However, the price of the book is a little steep if that's all one gets from it. I would recommend that patients and families do their own research: it's more empowering, it's free, and the information is better.

Potential readers should know that this book isn't a scholastic history of Robert E. Lee. Like Dwyer's "Stonewall," this book is historical fiction. Furthermore, interposed within its "story," is ultra-conservative-Texan-Christian rhetoric... I'm shocked that Amazon.com doesn't state this in the book description.