This is another of the books which is sometimes hard to read, mainly because some of it consists of interminable lists! This is why we know the book as "Numbers". However, the Hebrew title is "bemidbar", which means "in the desert". This is perhaps more appropriate for many key incidents occur in the desert and are described in this book. For instance it is in Numbers that Moses commits the sin that leads to him not being allowed into the Promised Land.
The book was written by Moses, or at least based on writings by Moses. 12:3, where it is claimed that Moses is the most humble man on earth, does seem to make more sense if it was written by someone else! However, that could also be a product of a false sense of humility that we have in the West.
The book consists of (i) the results of two censuses; (ii) various commands, similar in flavour to those in Exodus and Leviticus; and (iii) records of various incidents that occurred in the desert. The Hebrew title for the book would seem to imply that it is these incidents that are the most important element of the book.
Some people find problems with the numbers in the book, which would infer that total number of Israelites at the time was about two million, which is a very large number in the context of the times. Various attempts have been made to do away with this "problem", such as saying 1000 is just symbolic, or has some other meaning. Given that God promised fruitfulness for His people, and that they were fruitful in Egypt (which is one of the reasons why Pharoah turned against them), it seems simpler to just accept the numbers.
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