Fletcher has a wonderful, dry British sense of humor and this is reflected in in the Complete Walker series. I have all four versions. I've read the first version cover to cover and have skimmed parts of the last three versions. For a how to backpack book the Complete Walker is as good as any and much more readable than most. Any time you write about gear the information is dated by the time the book hits the shelves, but that's not really the point of the books. Mainly the book's a great motivator to get out there.

This page from my mate Bruce on Fletcher.
http://www.oregonphotos.com/Colin-Fletcher1.html