Summary:
Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!

The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.

The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
............Very complete
............Easy to read
............Beautifully and artistically completed
............Good shopping, safety and other tips
............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.

Specifics:
The guides are organized as follows:

How to use this guide
Introduction to Historical and Geographical information
Geographical Regions
............Introduction Barcelona and Catalonia
........................Intro to Barcelona / Catalonia
........................Portrait of Catalonia
........................Catalonia Through the Year (events, holidays)
........................History of Catalonia

............Barcelona Area by Area, each section includes:
........................Introduction to street by street area

........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings
........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings
........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.

........................Barcelona At a Glance
........................Old Town
........................Eixample
........................Monjuic
........................Further Afield

............Catalonia Area by Area
........................Llieda, Andorra, Girona, Barcelona Province, Tarragona

Travelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes
............Hotels
............Restaurants, cafes, bars
............Shopping
............Entertainment
............Outdoor activities

Survival Information
............Practical
........................Tourist info., Etiquete, Personal Security and Health
........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info.
............Travel Information (Getting to Barcelona )

............Street Maps (Getting Around Barcelona )

............General Index
............Catalan Phrase Book
............Barcelona Metro and Train Routes (Maps)

Discussion:
The book begins with "Introducing Barcelona", including a complete map, a review, the city's history, and Barcelona thought the Year - including events, etc.

Areas with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc.

Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly.

The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I have used the reviews on hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, in most European cities, and Dorling has yet to disappoint me. I have found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions.

The books are so well thought-out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages.

Traveling to Barcelona Specifically:
Do it! I have never been disappointed with Barcelona, its people, its food, or anything at all. It is definitely one of the better European cities to visit, or spend time in. Also, just south of Barcelona is a little town called "Sitges" which is an absolute Mediterranean gem! Gorgeous, friendly, beautiful beaches, and very comfortable to simple visit and relax in!

Conclusion:
Each book in this series is a great help, and beautiful collectible resource. As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location. We have used some of these books to augment our research to investigate cities for our groups.

But D-K Barcelona is very skimpy on details and also on tourist attractions and facilities as soon as you venture out of the Old City.

For authoritative restaurant and hotel recommendations, go with Michelin Red. For architecture and art history, get the Blue Guide. For nightlife, try the TimeOut guide. Overall, people say that the Rough Guide is very good.

Whatever guidebook you choose, watch your belongings in Barcelona. Pickpocketing is an industry there, esp. in the Old City and on La Rambla. Women should not carry purses. Men should keep money in a money belt or zippered inner jacket pocket. Limit yourself to one camera that you can keep in your hands at all times.