A beautifully illustrated book with plenty of information on the history of soaps, this book may be as interesting to sociologists as it is to soap fans. Most noteworthy, is the way it differentiates the soaps from one another in terms of issues that each tackles and why. It is interesting to trace how soaps such as "Painted Dreams" began on radio and what appealed (and didn't) to various audiences throughout the decades. Eg: Isn't it hard to believe that "Guiding Light" (On Cable In Sydney) was orginally a 15 minute radio serial about four ministers? Many soaps mentioned in the book will probably be unknown to younger Sydney audiences such as "Search For Tommorrow" and "As The World Turns" which haven't been on the air for years (decades?) but there is good coverage on todays lineup as well. If you like this book you may want to check out A book by Jean Rouverol called"Writing For The Soaps" (1984) and "Soapbox" (1990) Hopefully a television special of a similar nature to this book could be done because the archive material itself would be priceless viewing.