Exactly what it claims to be - a brief, quick overview of the trajectory of Cahiers du Cinema. The author does a good job contextualizing the editorial and organizational shifts within the larger political landscape. In that way it becomes a pretty bleak case study in the degradation of a once-revolutionary institution into a largely worthless mouthpiece for distributors.

It's a quick read. Bickerton is willing to both commend and critique the "glory" years (be they the yellow or red years in your view). The actual criticism from Cahiers is only briefly summarized; you'll need to actually read Daney and Oudart and Godard and everyone else to get the actual picture. There's a general tracing of the auteur and mise en scene concepts over time here, from their origins in the early years to their total acceptance and eventual devaluation in film "criticism" today. But the more complex concepts are skimmed over in favor of a broad history of the magazine as a whole. Very high level, but it's a clear outline and as good a place as any to start.