The author's(O'Kane) exposition of the subject matter is lucid and very well structured.There is a good balance between theory and the practical aspects in the subject matter.Usually, there is a divergence between theory and practice, but O'Kane addresses these divergences well i.e. MTM,risk management & hedging of CDS contracts (and its variations)O'Kane successully simplifies the complex into the simple with clear, concise language in a structured, logical manner without bombarding the reader with complicated mathematical proof/ambiguous logical arguments i.e. why a one-factor latent variable model is insufficient to model the correlation structure of an n-name portfolio etc..I believe the dilligent reader can eventually develop his/her own intuition and can understand the logic behind the structure of the equationsBefore graduating to the current literature of credit derivatives, this book provides a very strong foundation to build upon.Personally, I prefer O'Kane's pedagogical style/treatment of the subject matter (credit derivatives) over Hull/White's treatment in their classic "Options, Futures and Other Derivatives"This book has given me a better, clearer and more structured understanding of credit derivatives in general.Hopefully O'Kane can write a book along similar lines for the other asset classes ie interest rate/fx.