Rating: 
Summary: A UNIQUE BOOK ON ELECTROMAGNETISM AND RELATIVITY
Review: This is the Volume 2 of the famous Course of Theoretical Physics by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz. All serious students of theoretical physics must possess the ten volumes of this excellent Course, which cover in detail and rigour practically all the branches of theoretical physics. The Volume 2 treats the subject of microscopic electrodynamics(electromagnetic fields in vacuum) and the whole of the theory of relativity. The book opens with the special relativity and, with this basis, constructs a detailed theory of the electromagnetic fields in vacuum, moreover including the theory of diffraction of the light. The last five chapters describes all the basic concepts of general relativity and some more specialized topics, such as the gravitational collapse, gravitational waves and in the last chapter, an excellent account of relativistic cosmology. It is noteworthy as the authors describe elegantly and efficiently all these subjects in the same book. A unique book!
Rating: 
Summary: A cult classic.
Review: This is, in my opinion, still the best book on Relativistic Electrodynamics and General Relativity. The way the energy-momentum tensor and the E-M pseudotensor, in GR, are discussed, including the part on how to define the 4-momentum Pi in GR, is among the best you can find on the subject. Moreover the discussion on syncronous frames is also very instructive. This is a must have reference for theoretical physicists.
Even the last part about basic aspects of cosmology is still a solid base one can start on. I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best !
Review: This is, in my opinion, still the best book on Relativistic Electrodynamics and General Relativity. The way the energy-momentum tensor and the E-M pseudotensor, in GR, are discussed, including the part on how to define the 4-momentum Pi in GR, is among the best you can find on the subject. Moreover the discussion on syncronous frames is also very instructive. This is a must have reference for theoretical physicists.
Even the last part about basic aspects of cosmology is still a solid base one can start on. I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Consummate elagance for any budding theorist!
Review: This series of text books, as any good graduate student knows, are worth owning, at least piece-meal, as per subject. This volume, in particular, illuminates much of the theoretical grounding to much of semi-classical physics, as it is today practiced. Basically, it is a non-quantum, but relativistic, study of fields, be they gravitational or electromagnetic in origin, explicated in reverential detail for only those not faint of heart to the gory details of physics.But I wax rhapsodic for the math, for that is the bulk of the type setting in the book (which is gorgeous and contemporary, by the way!). To sum up, requisite for any serious grad student (or precocious undergrad) in physics or astrophysics (which means me!)
Rating:
Summary: Consummate elagance for any budding theorist!
Review: This series of text books, as any good graduate student knows, are worth owning, at least piece-meal, as per subject. This volume, in particular, illuminates much of the theoretical grounding to much of semi-classical physics, as it is today practiced. Basically, it is a non-quantum, but relativistic, study of fields, be they gravitational or electromagnetic in origin, explicated in reverential detail for only those not faint of heart to the gory details of physics. But I wax rhapsodic for the math, for that is the bulk of the type setting in the book (which is gorgeous and contemporary, by the way!). To sum up, requisite for any serious grad student (or precocious undergrad) in physics or astrophysics (which means me!)
Rating: 
Summary: Very dense (typical Landau)
Review: We used this book for the first semester of graduate e+m. I found it, like all of Landau's books, very dense. It doesn't have enough examples and doesn't expound on many topics (especially magnetostatics). The only thing I liked about the book was that it built up e+m from special relativity. However, I almost immediately bought Jackson, which is a much better book to learn from.
Rating:
Summary: The great book on classical field theory, still going strong
Review: When I need the real explanation of something concerning relativity, electromagnetism or gravitation, I know this is the place to go. I know I will find the essence of the problem clearly yet tersely written. Some highlights: the derivation of the retarded Green function, where a clever mathematical analogy avoids lots of contour integration; the frequent use of the powerful Hamilton-Jacobi equation, again avoiding long Riemannian-geometry computations; the explanation of why nothing, not even light, can escape the attraction of a black hole. When it overlaps with Jackson's rightly famous textbook on Electrodynamics, you'll see the difference between a good (Jackson's) and a remarkable book. Though not up to date in matters of cosmology, it is still the starting point to be recommended.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time classics in physics.
Review: When I phase transition off this mortal coil, I'm going to
be cremated. This is one of the 5 books that will fry
with me. Its power and beauty still make me weep.
Rating:
Summary: A classic text
Review: Yes. The writing is clear and concise. The book is packed with information.
This book is for those who want to do physics, and it teaches one to do physics the way physicists do it. It is the second volume in L&L's Course on Theoretical Physics; it follows the volume on Mechanics. And the next logical topic is relativity. So this book starts out with special relativity, four-vectors, relativistic mechanics, and particle decay and scattering.
But then we proceed to what I think really needs to come next, namely a discussion of electromagnetic fields. We derive Maxwell's equations. We learn a little about optics. And then we get to the field of moving charges, and radiation of electromagnetic waves. These are a very important topics. If I were teaching a class on relativity, I'd make good use of these two chapters. I think it is very instructive to learn about the field of an accelerating charge.
The sections on general relativity are especially well written. And we learn how to work all sorts of general relativity problems, such as finding the radiated energy and angular momentum loss for a system of two bodies moving in elliptical orbits. The icing on the cake is a short chapter on cosmology.
This is the way to learn physics.
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