I've been using them to get round the Lakes all my life - well, since I could read anyway. He pretty much invented the visual guide to walking routes in difficult territory, and he did it brilliantly in my view (& that of many - that's why he's legendary). Whether you like his personal style is another matter. I'm fine with it but it gets up some people's noses.

What he did so well was to explain and illustrate how to follow difficult routes in difficult country. When you're following a route description, how do you recognise that you've reached a key decision point? How can you confirm you're where you ought to be? How do you recognise the key things to look for, both close and at a distance? It's more difficult to get that into a guidebook than you might think initially. There are plenty of guidebooks around that look good but are hopeless to use. Wainwright knew how to do it, and covered pretty much the whole of the Lakes - every natural line up every fell more or less.

So many people have copied some or all of Wainwright's approach to writing guidebooks, myself included. I don't think anyone's done a better job, and I've never seen comparable guides dating from before the 50s when Wainwright published the first of his books, so he may have invented it from scratch.

If you want the books as a coffee table thing, buy the box set if it's cheapest way of getting them. If you want to use them on the fells, then get the revised versions (2nd edition), not the box set. Chris Jesty has updated 6 of the 7, with the 7th (Western Fells) coming out in October. The box set currently available is the original edition, not revised since the 1950s/60s.