Having said that, if you are serious about Italian, I would buy the book at least and use it to consolidate the grammar and vocab that you learned from, say 'Teach Yourself Italian', and to learn the further tenses, (pluperfect, future perfect, past conditional and passive), that don't make a showing in many other basic courses. (Most of these aren't in GCSE either, so the 1st reviewer wasn't *quite* correct.)
The book (which you can get separately) is well written and laid out. It works through Italian grammar in a sensible order, basing each chapter on realistic conversations. There are plenty of exercises, with answers at the back.
This is very different from audio-based courses like Michel Thomas or Learn in your Car. You are clearly expected to devote an hour each day to studying with the book. You need to clear yourself a space and work steadily without interruption. Given that Italian has a much more complex grammar than English, this is probably a good way to learn. However, although the CDs are excellent as far as they go, I personally feel I need a lot more aural/spoken exercises.
Recommended, provided that you are happy with this rather traditional approach.
http://ilmessaggero.caltanet.it/ - Il Messagerohttp://www.gazzettino.it/ - Il Gazettino
