Having already used dozens of books on (visual) symbols, symbolism, and related subjects for my research, I didn't find very much in the way of ancient history of symbols in this book. It is a great taxonomy of signs, ideograms, and some symbols, all presented in the same style, and has some value as a dictionary. The cross references are very useful. Not very useful for researching symbols or emblems from the more esoteric arena. The visual overview chart is a good idea for finding a symbol by its looks, although I found the groupings confusing to use.