Textbook Question

[TheCommuter]

On closer look, these new, cheap books are "international editions." Does anyone here know what that means and is the book good? I want to take advantage of the price, but 48 dollars is still a lot of money to spend if the text won't work for the class.

I have been using international editions on and off since 2007. These textbooks contain the exact same material as what you'd find in the pricier version, but they tend to be paperback, somewhat flimsy, on low-quality paper, and sometimes contain black-and-white pictures. Overall, they are a bargain compared to the ones you find in U.S. college bookstores.

International editions are usually printed overseas under copyright agreements with U.S. publishers that permit these textbooks to be sold cheaply in other countries because the students in other countries wouldn't be able to afford the marked-up prices. This enables people in poorer countries to attain the same education as what we receive.