Hola Mike,
Haven't used the Rother guide yet but plan to in April this year Aragones to SDC which it covers.
Regarding the publication date, it is a little confusing. If you "look inside" at Amazon (UK) it clearly says 2007, but claims to be a revised edition, I took the chance and purchased and it is the
second edition revised in 2011.
I used the Davies & Cole "Walking the
Camino de Santiago" last time (2009) and liked quite liked that but it is way out of date now with no new edition.
I had the "Revised Lightweight Edition" of the
Brierley Guide, which most seem to prefer, but found it about twice as heavy as I wanted to carry. Davies and Cole much lighter and gave more options if you wanted or needed to stay at cheap hotels etc. The Rother guide is lighter and more compact than my 2008
Brierley not sure about his new edition. The Rother guide appears to give Albergue information on some smaller villages that
Brierley & Davies/Cole didn't have, it also indicates on the maps where hotels are located but without further information. The Maps seem good, elevation shows estimated times and facilities along the way, the alternate path information looks good, and the description of difficult sections seems adequate and has a reasonable amount of practical, historcial, architectual information. Importantly, to me it reads as if written in English rather than translated from German, so the editing is very good.
Again, it is light, compact and has stages from Somport or SJPP to SDC/Muxia.
Col