It is a comprehensive and well illustrated textbook on all aspects of tsunami. I don't think there is any other book on the topic published. As one bookseller said after the Indian Ocean tsunami event, "I would have just filled my front window with copies and they would have walked out the store." This statement was just as relevant after the Japanese tsunami of 2011 and will be as relevant when the next large tsunami event happens, sooner rather than later. The book can be used by a student or layperson to gain encyclopedic knowledge about tsunami.
From the book reviews:
"Bryant (International Univ. of Malaya-Wales), an outstanding international expert, has updated his earlier editions ... providing comprehensive coverage of tsunami science and history. ... chapters cover tsunami dynamics, tsunami-modified coastal landscapes, major causes, and poignant case histories. ... This work is valuable to a wide audience-students and professionals in environmental sciences and economics, coastal engineering, geology, geophysics, and oceanography; civic/emergency planners; and people living along coastlines. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." (T. T. Grose, Choice, Vol. 52 (6), February, 2015)
"Bryant (International Univ. of Malaya-Wales), an outstanding international expert, has updated his earlier editions ... providing comprehensive coverage of tsunami science and history. ... chapters cover tsunami dynamics, tsunami-modified coastal landscapes, major causes, and poignant case histories. ... This work is valuable to a wide audience-students and professionals in environmental sciences and economics, coastal engineering, geology, geophysics, and oceanography; civic/emergency planners; and people living along coastlines. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." (T. T. Grose, Choice, Vol. 52 (6), February, 2015)
From the reviews of the second edition: "A much needed, up-to-date introductory work on tsunamis with worldwide coverage. ... Many high-quality maps, figures, charts, and exceptional photographs augment the text; an extensive list of cited references is especially valuable. This book will have noteworthy appeal to students and professionals alike in the fields of geomorphology, coastal engineering, environmental sciences, and economics. It will also be valuable to geographers, civic and emergency planners, and the general public living along coastlines the world over ... . Summing Up: Recommended. All readers/libraries." (T. L. T. Grose, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (01), September, 2008)