This book was drawn from Culshaw's lectures, in the intermissions, which appeared on the Met Opera broadcast of the entire Ring Cycle some years back. Essentially this is a volume printed by popular demand. Reflections is a "middle ground" to read. The book's character analysis tends to be concise yet much more meaningful than the general pages and pages of review, and the same applies for the rest of the volume. The connections forged by this book between Wagner's Ring and general humanity are strong, and Reflections is certainly a good companion to the Ring for those who seek to find a greater awareness within Wagner's work. The photographs and illustrations are in the style of Wieland Wagner's famous Bayreuth productions. They seem, to me, a perfect choice for the book. John Culshaw's words are designed to get the reader thinking about Wagner's meaning: Wieland's sets and lightings are likewise very open to interpretation.