The book is an introduction to understanding how to design and use databases. It covers early models of databases that led to the relational database model used so much today. I didn't find it as easy to understand as many of the other dummies series books, and I wouldn't recommend this book if you are going to purchase it. It's worth a look if you can find it in the library. It will familiarize you with the many challenges and considerations involved in designing a database, but there are books that are written better out there - I'm reading one now that I really like, I find the explanations very clear: