Rating: 
Summary: Author lacks understanding, too much fluff, a casual read
Review: I purchased and read this book based on recommendations from others in the posting community here on Amazon.[com]. My good first impression of the book was quickly muddled when I realized the lack of understanding expressed in many of the subject areas presented in the book. A book with a [high] price tag should be written by an expert! As I read this book by Harris, I kept getting the impression that she simply copied and pasted information from the Web into her publishing application and left credit for her references in the sidebar. Look to the Wiley book for a text written by true experts in the field. The amount of typos and grammatical errors in the book also exceeds the acceptable level for a book in this price range. Also, (and this shouldn't influence your decision to buy this book) it is HIGHLY annoying to read a book that has all third person references expressed as "her" and "she." Harris should leave her political agenda aside when writing a book on any other subject.
Rating: 
Summary: I passed, but...
Review: This is the only book I used to prepare for the exam. I passed, so you could say that the All-in-One book really is all that is needed, however I did feel under-prepared as soon as I began reading the actual test questions. I think that if the book expanded its treatment of several areas (IDS for one)and began offering explanations to the answers to the practice exams I would have been better prepared.
Rating: 
Summary: Editor? What's an editor?
Review: No, I am not referring to vi or emacs. I am referring to the human being who, nominally, is there to guide the author. Well, not in this case. The CISSP certification is a professional certification (that's what the 'P' stands for, folks). Unfortunately, the author seems to think that writing in an excessively colloquial, familiar, and almost "slangy" style is just what is needed to help her readers stay awake thru this kilopage tome. Admittedly, the CISSP exam is a mile wide and an inch deep, so one cannot fault the author for the depth (none) with which things are treated. HOWEVER, the cutesy way the book is written, with cheesy jokes to "help you remember" the material borders on the insulting for anyone who isn't looking to just cram for the exam, get the "cert", and move on. For readers who actually do have infosec experience, and who are looking for a review guide, this book works well enough, but you have to read it defensively -- the style is actually an obstacle to readbility, which is why the editor needs a clue. Also - there are typos and grammatical errors that a book at this price point should NOT have.On the plus side, it is trivial to resell the puppy once it has served its purpose -- mine was gone three hours after I got home from the exam -- and the practice questions actually are somewhat helpful. In a nutshell -- grind your teeth thru the style and the sloppiness, augment the practice stuff with the Boson practice questions (for example), and this book might be worth keeping long enough to help you remember what you read in other vastly better books covering any of the 10 domains.
Rating:
Summary: NOT A GOOD EXAM PREP TOOL
Review: I agree with the other reviewer who said there was too much fluff in here. I had already bought many of the recommended texts listed by ISC2. What I needed was focused preparation materials that took me through, approximately, what I could expect to find on the exam. What I got here was a rather poor rehash of the dozens of better written, classic, professional texts that have been written by others. I even found topics on the exam that were definitely NOT addressed by this book. Bigger is not always better.
Rating: 
Summary: Took the CISSP exam 9/31/02 and PASSED.
Review: The CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide was the best of the half-dozen sources that I used. I'd rate it a must-have if you want to take the exam. I also used the The CISSP Prep Guide but switched to Shon's book halfway through. The CISSP exam is immature; that is, many of the questions appear convoluted for the sake of being obtuse. I doubt seriously if your score on this exam corralates to your true ability. That said, it is a necessary benchmark of a very broad subject. And having talked to people taking the test for second time, I'm told the test is improving. That's about all I can say about the test; you have to sign in blood not to discuss it once you take it. Most people walk out having no idea if they did well; my peers were no exception. I took the course that Shon teaches at the Intense School (see cccure.org for a link and useful study materials). It is a great course and a terrific value. Everything is taken care of in the course cost (hotel, food, snacks - and they don't skimp). Shon is an excellent and patient instructor with an in-depth understanding. Her pointers on the test were worth about 15 extra questions right; possibily the difference between passing and not for many of us. But the course is not for the meek. It is 8:30 to 6:30 for 6 days, followed by the exam. By the 3rd day most of us (including kids 15 years younger than me) were feeling beat -- only 500 pages and halfway thru the course material. But everyone I talked with though that it was well worth it. The only critism of Shon's book is that her sample test questions were far easier than the actual test. She admits it; her questions are to help you know if you understand the material. If her questions were like the test, everyone would think she couldn't write a decent test question (and they would be right!). But her material is dead-on. I should have studied operational security more than I did. There was far less on cyptography - the hardest subject - than I expected. With over 20 year experience in 9 of of the 10 domains, the exam wasn't a cakewalk. But Shon's CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide did make me much more confident about passing the exam. I have no financial or other interest in the Intense School or Shon's book. I'm just a very satisfied customer (and hopefully a CISSP now!). Update: Got my CISSP and so did everyone is my 4 person study clique - including one person who was sure that she wouldn't pass becuase she didn't have a strong security background. So the Intense School course was a big gain for her.
Rating:
Summary: This is the one stop book for CISSP (sort of)
Review: Armed with this book alone I passed the exam on my first try. Certain technologies and fields covered by the exam are not covered by this book. But hey, CISSP is so broad a test and is constantly being updated, you really do not expect anyone to know all of the stuff. Anyway, this is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not comprehensive
Review: There is some great content in this book and it definitely gives you an understanding of the basics in the 10 Domains. It, by no means, is enough to be able to pass the exam. After having taken the exam, you realize that you are recalling a great deal of information not included in this particular book. It is a good cornerstone to your study collection, but is not detailed enough. This book is also tougher reading than the CISSP Prep Guide, but I feel it helped more (having gone through both).
Rating:
Summary: Informative, but too verbose.
Review: I read this book after studying Ronald Krutz' CISSP Prep guide. Compared to Krutz' book, this seemed much easier to read in the beginning, but it is so verbose (rather like a novel), it really put me off. Krutz' book, on the other hand, is very concise and to the point. However, the sample questions are of a very good standard, and you have to make sure you read every word in the question before answering it. The bottom line is that I wouldn't recommend relying solely on this book. It makes a good companion to other prep guides like Krutz' book.
Rating:
Summary: It helped me pass!
Review: I need to get preped for the exam quickly, so I first read the CISSP Exam Cram to get the feel for the ten categories, and then used CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide to fill in the areas that I was weak in. I found All-in-One easy to read, and covered the relevant points needed for the exam. Not all questions are covered, so know-how gained through experience was a must, but All-in-One definitely helped, and I passed the exam on the first try.
Rating:
Summary: Could be better ...
Review: The book was a fairly easy read, but lacked some crucial content. This was apparent when taking the actual exam. I encountered numerous questions that were not addressed in this book. Overall, this title could be used as a sole source, but I would recommend finding at least one more good reference to use. The included CD of sample questions was rather worthless.
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