The book starts with an overview of Linux and the IA-64 architecture and then discusses each major subsystem of the kernel in more detail. Among others, there are separate chapters on how multi-tasking maps onto the underlying hardware, on the virtual memory subsystem, device support (programemd I/O, DMA & interrupts), symmetric multi-processing (SMP), and on the bootstrap procedure needed to bring a computer to live. These chapters place great emphasis not just on the "what", but also on the "how" and "why" of how Linux accomplishes its tasks. Each chapter has two primary components: the first describes the interfaces that the Linux kernel uses to abstract platform differences, and the second describes how these interfaces have been realized for IA-64. This structure makes the book useful not just to those readers interested specifically in IA-64 Linux, but also to anyone who would like to gain a better understanding of how Linux works on other platform.