This book assumes a solid understanding of computer architecture, and basic techniques for optimising cycle throughput. Therefore, it is not really practical to attempt to read this book without such knowledge. A very good introduction could be gained from another book by the same authors - "Computer Architecture - The Hardware/Software Interface".

I read this book as part of the curriculum of a course called "Advanced Computer Architectures" at the University of Copenhagen. It is a very informative book when it comes to discussing various dynamic (hardware) and static (compiler-based) techniques for improved pipelined behaviour of a CPU.