Electromagnetism is a hard subject for many people, including myself. The best approach is to get a few good books on the subject rather than rely on one book. After doing a survey, I finally bought the following books suitable for my level: (i) Introductory Electromagnetics by Popovic and Popovic; (ii) Field and Wave Electromagnetics by Cheng; (iii) Electromagnetics with Applications by Kraus; (iv) Schaums Outline of Electromagnetics by Edminister. I give five stars to all these books. (There is another book which I will not review or identify, because it turned out to be unsatisfactory.)

I am reviewing these four books in one go because they are interrelated. Each of these book is strong in its own unique area.

Introductory Electromagnetics by Popovic and Popovic is the best of these book for gaining an intuitive understanding of the difficult subject of electromagnetism. Its clarity and elegance reminds me of Feynman's Lectures in Physics. Every chapter is a work of inspiration. The carefully chosen examples are designed to impart understanding of electromagnetic principles rather than calculation skills. The book is excellent for those who are new to the subject. It is also excellent for those who have already learned some electromagnetics, but who feel that their understanding is still shaky.

Field and Wave Electromagnetics by Cheng is the best of these books in terms of the mathematical development of electromagnetics. Although this approach may seem difficult at first glance, ironically the mathematical rigour makes the subject much easier to grasp. That is because mathematical precision goes a long way towards illuminating subtle principles of electromagnetism. As a result, this book, more so than any other book, has given me the confidence to handle the difficult subject of electromagnetism.

Electromagnetics With Application by Kraus is the least systematic of these books, with some of the discussions being disjoint and abrupt. It is, however, valuable for its interesting and practical examples. It is a must-have book for anyone who is serious about electromagnetism.

Schaums Outline of Electromagnetics, by Edminister, is an outstanding collection of problems and solutions, as well as summaries. It mirrors the excellence of Edminister's other Schaums Outline, namely, Electric Circuits.

In summary, these four books have different strengths, respectively the following: (i) intuitive development; (ii) systematic development; (iii) practical application; and (iv) problem solving. These books form an awesome quartet, covering all the bases, and will provide you with a good foundation for advanced studies. A useful supplement for these books is Schaums Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables.

Excellent and unique development, but lacking in some areas

Rating: 4/5

Although this is my favorite exposition of fields and waves, Cheng sort of violates what he set out to do. This text is supposed to proceed more logically than others, yet it provides no basis for the basic postulates he introduces. He describes the postulates with one sentence, provides no motivation for them, and does not even describe any experimental basis for them. This is in stark contrast to other books. Also, he incorrectly treats the Lorentz condition from a logical point of view. The Lorentz condition is what helps link electromagnetic fields with electromagnetic waves travelling through space in the time-varying case. Cheng simply states the Lorentz condition because it simplifies another equation for potentials and says that we are at liberty to specify the equation because it contains the divergence of a variable whose curl is already specified earlier; and specifying both the divergence and curl of a vector field uniquely defines the field. This is abrupt, arbitrary reasoning with almost no motivation behind it. He should have at least stated where the Lorentz condition really comes from -- from the theory of relativity and its relation to electromagnetic fields. This would be a more lucid and correct way of linking electromagnetic fields to electromagnetic waves. Besides these shortcomings, this book is unique and excellent overall. For the serious student of electromagnetics, applied scientists, and engineers I recommend getting this book along with Essentials of Electromagnetics for Engineering by Wolf and Electromagnetic Fields and Waves by Lorrain and Corson; Lorrain and Corson's text correctly treats the Lorentz condition and derives it using the theory of relativity. These three texts, when first supplanted by a course in electromagnetism at a reasonable level, will leave one ready for any new encounters in this field, research or applied.