Its laminate. Mine arrived with the top back corners damaged. There was also some white staining on one of the sides, but fortunately it cleaned up.  Its remarkably easy to put together as all the hardware is packaged separately and labeled. I a 50+ woman put it together myself. However for less money I see I now could have purchased a solid wood bookshelf from a local home goods store for less money that is beautifully stained/made in India. This laminate piece is made in malaysia. The wood leg base the cabinet sits on however is solid wood so if the bookcase goes, can reuse the legs. Not all will be lost. However if i had to do it again i would purchase the solid wood one from India for $129 instead of this laminate piece. not sure how well it will hold up. some of the screws in the base went in soft and felt like they were stripping.