The complete operas of Richard Wagner Book

I finished reading this book this morning but didn't feel comfortable reviewing it until tonight, after watching at least one Wagner opera. I must admit I enjoyed the book much more than my rating would indicate. I was expecting only a description of the operas, but there was a lot of biographical material included, as well as a lot of quotes from Wagner's writings and music critics contemporary with him. That really gives a sense of what these operas are about. And I certainly came away from this book with a great desire to absorb some Wagner, which, after all, is the main purpose. But there were numerous things about the book I didn't like. First, one gets the distinct impression that Osborne doesn't really care much for Wagner, and I didn't feel he gave the composer his due. Second, there were only 39 musical examples for thirteen operas, and nine of them were for Parsifal! Third, I felt that there were important things about the music that were left out. My first clue as to this came from the chapter on Götterdämmerung. I found this chapter hard to follow, and reread it to find out whether this was due to the author or to me. One thing I discovered on this reread was that there was frequent mention of the Gibichung, and I didn't know who these people were. Another clue was that when watching Parsifal I was practically struck in the face with the legend of the Wandering Jew in the person of Kundry. It seems like it should rate at least a mention in the relevant chapter, especially given Wagner's anti-Jewish polemical intentions in this opera.