Rating: 
Summary: A classic
Review: You don't have to be a Phisic geek to enjoy this book. If you like sci-fi then this is an experiece that is not sci-fi but it feels like one.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading
Review: Don't you dare NOT read this book. Ignore ANY criticism of this one and read it. I read this book very late into my life (i.e I had read a lot of pop-sci cosmology/quantum physics before this). I was actually guilty of ignoring this book as it became too pop - everybody seemed to have read it (or so they claimed). I was stupid. You have to get Hawking's perpective on the topics he discusses in this book - if you are interested in the subject. He's as good as anybody else - except Gribbin and (I agree with one reviewer below) Brian Green (his style is too good - amazingly illustrative).
Rating:
Summary: Great for Beginning Cosmological Physics
Review: Stephen Hawking writes these words as no other could. He describes some of the most confusing, detailed theories of modern physics, so that the average American could completely understand. With topics ranging from the Theory of Relativity to Black Holes, Hawking has it all packed in. He is also very good at giving background information pertaining to earlier theories of the kind, who the theorists were, and the major accomplishments of those particular scientists. If possible, I would strongly advise buying the illustrated version, as, not only do the pictures help, they make for an easier and more pleasureful read as you skim through the pages. Though the book is a bit pricy, the illustrations, and overall book quality make up for it. Not to mention, Hawking's genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts you off in a quest - to find who you are?
Review: Hawkings book is an eye opener, makes you re-think about why and how you are born in this unimportant stellar system that is yet another granule in the vast sands of the universe. Surely, it raises more questions than it answers. In my opinion, this is what a good book should do - not to make followers - but to trigger the curiosity in the reader and starts her off in thinking. The book is good reading. In spite of some scientific jargon, equation and figures, the average reader can well understand it. However, being a collection of lectures and articles, some amount of repetition is present in the work. There are places where some more explanation would do a lot of help to the reader while making the conclusions at various stages more plausible. In overall this is a great book to be read! And believe me, its fun reading!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Poor Book
Review: This is a poor book. Stephen Hawking knows his stuff, but he is very bad at conveying that information to others. He doesn't go into enough detail to allow the user to understand the physics behind the subject and consequently the book has a very "so-there", "Because it just is!!" quality to it. For example, Early in the book he states that time moves slower close to the gravitational field of a large object, like the earth. He doesn't go into any detail, or explain this. I know that it it because gravity and acceleration are the same, and as einstien showed, going faster causes time to move slower. But if I wasn't familiar with relativity I wouldn't have understood this, and wouldn't have felt that I had learned anything. I hit problems at chapter 6, "Black Holes" because I know very little about them, and thus didn't feel like could follow the chapter. The book has a reputation of being one in which people can't get past the first few chapters. Well I think this is why. A better example of a good way to learn a subject is through the books of Richard Dawkins. Upon reading his books I always come away with an excellant understanding of the topic. It's a shame that this book wasn't in a similar style.
Rating: 
Summary: Put it on your bookshelf, to impress your date
Review: People say that what you read is what you are, and therefor, you can tell about the charector of a person by examing his bookshelf. Well, this book is a great bookshelf book. To put it on your bookshelf so your date think your intelligent, would be a great use for it. It is not a "Science book for the masses" like some had refered to it. It's possible that something happened in the transtlation to Hebrew, but this book was hard-to-read and boring and there are better books in the subject. This book is a must on every bookshelf, but from the wrong reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Brief review for "Illustrated Brief History of Time".
Review: This is a beautiful edition. Reader will experience nothing but pure pleasure in searching through the text or analyzing colorful pictures of this book.
Why was "A Brief History of Time" so successful ?
Because people have always longed for answers to the big questions. Where did we come from ?
How did the world begin ?
What is the meaning of it all ? Buy lovely work of Stephen Hawking and you will not only read but additionally you will SEE explanations.
One extra suggestion: there is a quite good alternative available: "River of Time" by Igor Novikov. Much cheaper but as good as Hawking's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the original
Review: I read the original version of 'A Brief History of Time' back in 1988. At the time, Hawking was into ground-breaking territory. The fact that his theories have gained such universal acceptance and that many of them have since been proved is evidence of the brilliance of the mind that thought through the logic. In this updated version, Hawking moves from time travel to black holes to general relativity, quantum mechanics and even string theory, he never fails to captivate and entrance, even though some of the theories are difficult to grasp. The sections devoted to black holes and time travel are, in my view, the most interesting... putting a human slant of a highly theorical subject. With the addition of hundreds of amazing illustrations and photos, Hawking has made his revised book extremely readable and colorful, both comprehensive and comprehendable, as one reviewer put it. An excellent introduction to relativity, big bang, and anything else you might have scratched your head about!
Rating:
Summary: Thinking Great Enough to Match the Cosmos
Review: For anyone looking for a great, comprehensible explanation of the current state of the theories driving today's physics, this is it. Hawking has taken everything from the early history of thinking about the universe, its laws and composition, to the latest developments on black holes and string theory and placed it in a remarkably lucid set of explanations that detail the concepts behind all the mathematics that is so intimidating to most. This book is written without a single equation or a single statement on the order of "From the above, it is obvious that..." Instead, we proceed from the (comparatively) simple concepts about the everyday observable world of gravity, planets, and stars, travel carefully along the historical path of scientific observations as they modify and enhance the simple theories till we reach the world of quantum mechanics, the big bang, wormholes, and Grand Unified Field Theories. Each concept is fully explained, and with this expanded second edition, many of the concepts are beautifully illustrated with drawings and photographs. And, possibly surprising to some people, as we enter the rarified air of today's theories, we see that the line between physics and philosophy is a very thin one, and ruminations about the origin of the Universe lead to discussions about God and fate. Here we see why Hawking is one of the premier physicists of today, as he obviously thinks in same kind of conceptual language that this book is written in, capable of looking at the meaning behind the mathematics and how it relates to us as humans. Physics students and engineers may not find very much new here, but even they may benefit from the clear thought lines presented here, forcing a look at the meaning behind all the esoteric symbols that are their everyday working fare. About the only quibble I had with this was Hawking's insistence on writing out very large/small numbers as million-million-million... While this was fine the first couple of times it becomes a little irritating in place of the standard 1,000,000... representation, or even better to use standard scientific notation. A great elucidation of some of the most complex theories of the day, theories seemingly unrelated to your everyday life, but which are in fact the bedrock upon which today's technological marvels are based, and with implications that catch the nether regions of religion and the questions we all have about the meaning of life and the universe.
Rating:
Summary: THE SCIENCE BIBLE (A must buy)
Review: If you own Carl Sagan's Cosmos then you must own this. It's a must buy, a simple must.
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