"Tough going, but well worth the listen"
After completing this book, I was amazed that Hawking would claim in the introduction that it was meant to be "easier to understand" than "A brief history of time". It has been several years since I have read the latter book, but I wouldn't rate "The universe in a nutshell" as easier. It was tough going. It was, however, fascinating, and what I enjoyed most were some of Hawking's less inaccessible comments on the future of scientific progress and human existence in the later chapters. The narration was reasonably good. This was well worth the purchase.