E-TRENDS: This is a collection of reports published in the Economist from early 2000 to late 2001 on the multifaceted world of e-business.

Where there have been changes, the authors have inserted a postscript explaining where the reporter sees the sector now. For instance, in the collection dealing with online media companies, the author acknowledges that advertising has slumped, music piracy is growing and the jury is still out on how to make money out of e-entertainment.

Written in the authoritative and spare style synonymous with the Economist, it groups the problems and potential of the e-world under headings such as government, new economy, commerce and entertainment. Despite the schadenfreude evident when the e-bubble burst spectacularly, the authors contend the e-world is here to stay but that the next problem is to identify the context and, more importantly, to make it pay.

A telling example used is that of the railway boom of the l9th century, where huge profits were made and lost, but long-term the returns were low - a yearly average of 5 per cent for the Great Western Railway in Britain, which is one of the best run in the world.

However the structural change that railways brought - the opening up of the US, the ability to distribute goods like never before - is deemed incalculable.

On the entertainment front, the results for those who invested so much are still very disappointing. And the fact that the analogue, digital and bandwidth saga has yet to be resolved means a sector that promised so much has yet to deliver.

Another consistent theme running throughout the collection of reports is the worry of the digital haves and have-nots. Those further up the socio-economic and educational ladders are far more likely to be online than others, which further exacerbates the class divide and excludes even more of those who can least afford a worsening situation.

This is an extremely interesting, informed and coherent collection, which puts across an outsider's view of the e-business phenomenon in an accessible and understandable way.

E-trends

Various contributors.

The Economist in association with Profile Books, £20 sterling.