[1] It has five chapters, the first of which provides basic definitions in graph theory, combinatorics, and linear algebra, and the second of which defines and introduces matroids, called in this book "independence spaces".
[2][3] The final chapter concerns matroid representations using linear independence in vector spaces,[2] labeled as an appendix and presented with fewer proofs.
[3][4][6] Although disagreeing with the book's choice to omit the related topic of geometric lattices, reviewer Dominic Welsh calls it "an ideal text for an undergraduate course on combinatorial theory".
[4] However, reviewer W. Dörfler complains that the book has inadequate coverage of practical applications, and is missing a proper bibliography.
Korte also echoes the other reviewers' complaints about the lack of coverage of applications in combinatorial optimization and of connections to lattice theory.