The author gives an excellent overview in the four-page preface, where he acknowledges the limitations of his work and prepares the reader well by conveying a transparent framework for absorbing the rather dense exposition that follows.
There is in the second chapter a concise discussion of the meaning of economic development, which defines it as a multifaceted concept for which per capita income is a robust but significantly incomplete operational measure.
Throughout the book, the basic pattern of discussion is consistent. The author discusses theory and data in dynamic--the order of the two is interchangeable--identifying and discriminating what is substantiated, imperfect, or defective in theory, as well as what is informative, unexplained, or wanting in data, and then whenever possible drawing implications or conclusions for economic policy. The ultimate goal of author's analysis is to limn the "structural characteristics" of economic development, building upon the fundamental assumption that the key determinants of economic performance are a cohort of salient variables that affect the efficient functioning of markets.
Some of the variables that are intensively discussed include inequality, poverty, population growth, rural-urban sector interaction, the functioning of land, labor, capital, credit, and insurance markets, and trade policy. Not all factors that affect economic development are adequately quantified, such as social norms or the status quo. Interestingly, the author accounts rather well for the "East Asian miracle" in terms of some of these variables.
The two appendices at the end cover game theory and elementary statistical methods, both essential for the scientific understanding of economic development.
Designed for an introductory course, the textbook is of course weakly regardful of new ideas or studies, so that it will not bring the reader to any eager appreciation of exciting issues in the discipline--or maybe economics inherently IS a dismal science?
From the standpoint of social science, the textbook is surpassingly descriptive and analytical but to only a limited extent prescriptive. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to substantively understand economic development in an analytical and scientific mode.