By 
Fundamentals of Extended Physics by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker is a college-level introductory physics textbook.
It covers the basics of mechanics and electromagnetism, covering the typical two-course college introductory sequence in Physics. Some later chapters touch on relativity and nuclear physics, but the book stops short of a full introduction to modern physics (the material that most universities include as a third course).
Target audiences
According to the book’s preface, the target audience is students preparing for careers in science and engineering. The book is typically used in introductory classes taken by college freshmen, with sophomores and seniors taking these courses less frequently.
The book is not intended for (and generally would not be suitable for) more general audience classes.
Requirements
The text makes use of calculus, and I think it would require a solid understanding of introductory calculus to be able to get the most out of it. A particularly ambitious or gifted student could work through this book at the same time as taking calculus, but I would recommend that any student master the basics of calculus before using this book or taking a class focused on it.
No prior training in physics is assumed, but I think this book would be a bit complicated or advanced for a student who had never really encountered the ideas in it before.
My experience with the book.
I used this book in undergrad and kept it for reference. I think it is well written and provides a good amount of detail and explanation of the math in the conceptual exposition sections of each chapter. I especially like the way the book handles equations during exposition; Instead of just doing a bunch of math manipulation, there’s an extensive verbal explanation of what’s going on, helping you connect the equations to the concepts.
I think this book is not as good as it could be at preparing people to solve the problems and apply the concepts. The sample problems have explanations that seem clear, but I discovered that there was something missing in the philosophy or abstract approach to problem solving that made me feel inadequate in posing the problems. For me, this was not a problem because I had access to competent teachers and a community of peers who addressed my problems. But I think this shortcoming might make this book a bit difficult for someone trying to use it for self-study.
creep edit
Like many popular, mainstream textbooks, this text suffers from what I call “edition creep,” a process through which more editions of the book are published and releases are more frequent than would be optimal for the book. fixes and improvements only. Editorial creep is driven by a profit motive in publishing.
This book is currently in the 10th edition, released in 2013. I think buying the latest edition is unnecessary. If you’re willing to buy an older edition, like the fifth, or even newer, you can save a tremendous amount of money. Even by going back just one edit, you can save a substantial amount.
Another way to save money is to buy a ring-bound or loose-leaf copy instead of the usual hardcover. These copies are still quite expensive, around $145 for the most recent edition, compared to almost $300 for the new book.
In summary
This is a solid textbook suitable for the first two introductory college-level physics courses for engineering or science majors who have a background in calculus. It would not be suitable for a more general audience of people with no calculus background, and the level of depth is greater than is necessary for students who do not intend to pursue a career in science. It also suffers from editing issues, and it would probably make sense to buy (or design a course from) earlier editions to save money.