Decent book. As to Herder's merits in broad scope, I would have to read more of him; that, however, will not be any time soon. Some of his notions regarding the Bible were fairly pioneering at the time. He was one of the early promoters of Biblical criticism, and supported the earliness of Mark and the dependence of Matthew and Luke on common sources. Since this has become rather old hat, that, in and of itself, doesn't make his writings that relevant and novel today.
His opposition to Kantianism and pure rationalism is a little more of what I was interested in. He had some good things to say in regards to that set of topics, but as I am writing this, nothing springs to mind that was that memorable for me. As it stands, I am glad I read the book (skipping one section that didn't interest me). I was mainly interested in Herder because of his role in the Sturm Und Drang German romantic movement. I think Hamann is probably more noteworthy as the true visionary in regards to German romanticism, but Herder, Jacobi and Lavater, all played a substantial role early on. ( )