Alas, it is the same book, just in bass clef. I tried playing a few pieces and was surprised and delighted to find them quite easy to play. Suddenly it dawned on me: the tunes had been transposed to cello-friendly keys. Yes, they are easy to play, but you can't play them with a fiddle group. Every single one of the pieces had one sharp fewer than the fiddle book.
Then I had another realization: If I pretended they were written in tenor clef, rather than in bass clef (and added a sharp), all would be well, and I'd have lots of practice reading tenor clef. (Until I memorize the pieces, of course.)
That or return the book. I haven't decided, but am leaning toward keeping it. And writing to Latham Music about how they might make this book more useful for the fiddling cellist.
Anyway, I'd recommend the book (which comes with a CD) to anyone who wants to get the feeling of playing fiddle tunes without shifting too much (or buying a five-string cello), but is not playing with a fiddle group. Or for someone who is playing with instrumentalists willing and able to play in cello-friendly keys. The CD, by the way, features a viola, not a cello, and the fast versions ot the tunes are really, really fast. Too fast for me.
Another fiddle-related option for learning clefs: Rick Mooney's Thumb Position for Cello Book 1 contains a number of fiddle tunes too, in duet form, in treble clef with the accompaniment part in bass clef.
