Martinus Veltman has a rare gift - to have indepth knowledge of a complex subject, and be able to give the layman a plausible explanation of it. I have almost completed my second reading of the book. Such was the wealth of information, and my eagerness to read, that I could not take it all in on the first reading. The reader must persist with some of Dr Veltman's language quirks , but this is a minor criticism - the effort is handsomely repaid. His character profiles (occasionally caricatures), and personal stories, add a human dimension, and serve to point out that it takes many brilliant and hard working people, not just theorists and not just Nobel Prize winners, to create an edifice as grand (and yet fragile) as the Standard Model. Highly commended - a beautiful legacy for future generations.