This book is broken into 24 lessons and is well illustrated. While this would make an excellent supplement to a course on Chinese brush painting, it's not a basic book. It does have a fair number of examples of modern artists and styles and does touch on historical painting schools.
This book is pretty intricate, and not my thing right at the moment. Still, I have to give it high marks, and will have to remember to pick it up sometime in the future when I have more time (and money for supplies!) to devote.