To my surprise, the book is quite comprehensive. Most of my daily life books about Biblical times get so caught up in the history of the Jews and the politics of the region that they neglect the real daily life of the people. This book ignores the politics and instead concentrates on the stuff you buy a book like this to learn.
Instead of just showing pictures of the coins of the time, for example, this book gives a chart showing what a shekel would buy. Instead of going into the history of why people made their pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the writer instead focused on what happened when they got there. These things are invaluable from a writer's standpoint, because when you're writing a book from the perspective of someone who lived in a particular time, the protagonist doesn't care about the history of his actions. All he cares about is what he's doing.
If you're looking for a book that doesn't explain why but is keenly focused on the what and how, this is the book for you. I own seven or eight books of daily life in Biblical times, and this is one of two I'll actually use in my writing.
